Global Obesity Forum 2025

Pau Gasol is an advisor, an investor and an activist in projects related to sports and well-being. He played professional basketball for 20 years in the NBA, on the Spanish National Team and in Spain’s ACB league.

He is president of the Gasol Foundation, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission, and a UNICEF Global Champion for Nutrition and Zero Childhood Obesity.

Jeremy Farrar is the Assistant Director-General of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention and Control at the World Health Organization. He leads WHO's work on communicable and noncommunicable diseases, health through the life course, health promotion and social determinants of health, nutrition and food safety, migration and health, and the impacts of the environment and climate change on health.

Between 2023 and 2025, Dr Farrar was the Chief Scientist at WHO. Prior to joining WHO, Dr Farrar was Director of Wellcome for 10 years. He oversaw a series of major reforms and growth, with Wellcome now collaborating with partners around the world focused on fundamental discovery science and three challenge areas: Climate and health, Infectious diseases, and Mental health, all with a commitment to ensuring that equity, diversity and inclusion are central to the science they support. Before joining Wellcome, Dr Farrar spent over 17 years as Director of the Clinical Research Unit Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. His clinical and scientific interests have been in integrated health sciences across a range of public health priorities including emerging infections, influenza, infections of the brain, HIV, dengue, typhoid, malaria, tuberculosis, snakebite, and antimicrobial resistance. Dr Farrar trained in neurology and infectious diseases in London, Edinburgh, Melbourne and Oxford. He has a PhD in immunology from the University of Oxford.

Joan Matji is UNICEF’s Director of Child Nutrition and Development. With over 20 years’ experience in the nutrition field, Joan has held senior roles within the organisation, including Representative to Botswana, Representative to SADC, Regional Nutrition Advisor for Eastern and Southern Africa – where she provided oversight for UNICEF’s nutrition programming in 21 countries – and Chief of Nutrition in Ethiopia.

Prior to joining UNICEF, Joan served as an advisor on nutrition and HIV to USAID’s regional office in Southern Africa. She has taught undergraduate and post-graduate courses at the Medical University of Southern Africa and has written extensively on nutrition for various academic journals, while also serving as a reviewer for the South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Joan is a national of South Africa and holds a PhD in Public Health Nutrition from the University of Pretoria and a Master of Science degree from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Simón Barquera is a MD with a PhD from Tufts University in Boston, USA. He is a member of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine, Mexican National Academy of Sciences and author of more than 364 scientific publications. He has participated in the development and evaluation of policies for obesity and NCD prevention and control, for which he has been recognised with the 18 Martinson Lectureship (University of Minnesota, 2018), the Michael and Susan Dell Lectureship in child health (2017), the Tufts University Nutrition Impact Award (2016), the Soper award for excellence in health literature (Pan American Health Organization, 2003) and the "Dr. Gerardo Varela" public Health Merit Award (Government of Mexico, 2020).

He currently serves as Director of the Center for Research in Nutrition and Health of the National Institute of Public Health, and President of the World Obesity Federation.

Teodoro Herbosa is the Secretary of Health, Philippines.

Ramiro López Elizalde is the Vice Minister of Health, Government of Mexico.

Mohamed Hassany serves as the Health Minister's Assistant for Projects and Public Health Initiatives at the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) in Egypt. He is also an Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases and Hepatogastroenterology at the National Hepatology and Tropical Medicine Research Institute (NHTMRI) in Cairo. Additionally, he holds the position of Executive Director of the National Committee for Control of Viral Hepatitis (NCCVH), MoHP, Egypt.

Dr Hassany's expertise and dedication were acknowledged when he was appointed as a member of the Regional Validation Committee (RVC) for the Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (EMTCT) and the control and elimination of hepatitis B and C within the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) In recognition of his leadership in healthcare, Dr Hassany was chosen as a member of the Governing Board of the African Medicine Agency (AMA) of the African Union. He is also a member of the Governing Board of the Pandemic Fund. Furthermore, Dr Hassany is a Board Member of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator Council of the WHO and served as a board member on the Regional Advisory Panel for the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan) Initiative of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, USA.

Dr Hassany has recently been nominated as a member of the Programme, Budget, and Administration Committee (PBAC), and the Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (SCHEPPR) of the Executive Board of the WHO. Dr Hassany has authored more than 120 international peer-reviewed publications and book chapters focused on viral hepatitis and its related complications. He is also an editorial board member and reviewer for numerous international peer-reviewed journals.

In her 26 years with the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Dr Karen Sealey held several senior positions, at the subregional, regional and global levels. As the Caribbean Program Coordinator, she spearheaded the adoption of the Caribbean Health Promotion Charter; established the Awards for Excellence in Health Journalism; raised the profile of non-communicable diseases (NCD) and mental health in national health plans and published the inaugural edition of Health Conditions in the Caribbean.

Dr Sealey was seconded to UNAIDS for three years as the Director, Regional Support team for the Caribbean. In her final posting with PAHO/WHO, she served as PAHO/WHO’s first Special Adviser at the UN. Here, in prime place among her technical support to the Latin American and Caribbean Permanent Missions to the UN, Dr Sealey provided strategic leadership and coordination for CARICOM’s advocacy that led to the adoption of the 2011 UN Political Declaration on the prevention and control of NCDs.

Since her retirement, Dr Sealey has completed several national and international consultancies including preparing the first draft of the Trinidad and Tobago NCD Plan and served as the Executive Technical Adviser to the Minister of Health, Trinidad and Tobago, 2016-19.  

Karen Sealey is the Founder and current Chair of the Trinidad and Tobago NCD Alliance (TTNCDA) – an organisation of 13 Civil Society Organizations (CSO) which advocates for implementation of government’s commitment to action for the prevention and control of NCDs. Dr Karen Sealey is also a member of the Boards of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), the InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF) and the World Obesity Federation (WOF). Dr Sealey is the Past Chair of the Chest and Heart Association of Trinidad and Tobago (CHATT).

Johanna is a global leader in noncommunicable disease advocacy, with over 20 years’ experience of working in NCDs worldwide.

Johanna has been CEO of World Obesity Federation since 2017, working with over 100 member organisations from across the globe and expert board and committee members on delivering the Federation's priorities of global advocacy, convening, education and data and science. A new three year plan launched in January 2025 focuses on continuing to expand and strengthen action on obesity from prevention to management, working with members, WHO and other key stakeholders.

Previously, Johanna was CEO of the World Heart Federation and VP Global Affairs of the American Cancer Society, where she led global cancer and tobacco control programs. She is a citizen of the US and Sweden and is a lived experience advocate.

Eirini Agapidaki is a Psychologist, with an MSc in Health Promotion and Education from the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; and a PhD in Health Psychology from the same university. She has also specialised in matters of prevention of mental disorders and promotion of mental health. In addition, she has many years of teaching and research experience in the fields of public health policy, public health research methodology and mental health promotion – in the context of national, European and international research programs. She has worked for many years as a research associate at the Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

In recent years she was elected and served as a Lecturer in Public Health, at the Medical School of the European University of Cyprus. In 2019, she resigned from her academic role in order to take up her duties as the Special Secretary for the Protection of Unaccompanied Minors (at the Ministry of Migration and Asylum). At the end of December 2022, she assumed the duties of Secretary General of Public Health, and since July 2023 she serves as the Alternate Minister of Health and as a member of the Greek Parliament.

She has written and published research papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, and has presented the results of her research papers at many national and international conferences.

Ogweno Stephen is a global health advocate, a trustee at the World Obesity Federation and the founder of the Stowelink Foundation, a youth-led nonprofit tackling non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across Africa.

Having personally lived with obesity, Stephen transformed his experience into a mission to fight the rising burden of obesity and related NCDs through education, innovation, and community-driven programmes. His leadership at Stowelink has impacted thousands of young people, positioning him as a leading voice on obesity prevention, health entrepreneurship, and youth engagement in global health.

Dr Aquina Thulare is a medical professional with a long and distinguished career in public health policy management, and health economics. She has been a key figure in South Africa's National Department of Health, serving as the Technical Specialist on Health Economics for the National Health Insurance (NHI). In this capacity, she has been a driving force behind the development of NHI policy, legislation, and financial frameworks, while also ensuring that various legislative instruments align with the overarching goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Her expertise extends to international health diplomacy, most notably, as South Africa's Chief Negotiator for the World Health Organization's (WHO) Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) for the Pandemic Agreement and the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) as well as recently on the Intergovernmental Working Group for the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex. She also serves as a Technical Content Specialist on UHC programs for the WHO, BRICS, and the G20 Health Working Group.

Yvette Raphael is currently the Executive Director of Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa and serves on the Board of Trustees of MTV Base Staying Alive. Yvette delivered the 2023 Martin Delaney Lecture at CROI 2023 that was held in Seattle. Yvette is a consummate leader in the fight against HIV.

As a woman who has been living with the virus for over 19 years, Yvette has experienced first-hand what HIV stigma, insufficient prevention education, and reduced access to healthcare can do. She utilised her natural leadership abilities to co-found the Tshwaranang Care Center for People Living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA). Ms. Raphael has spoken around the globe including at several international AIDS conferences to advise researchers, advocates, and policymakers on how to best win the war against HIV and AIDS.

Her passion has been to improve the health outcomes for young women and girls, but her trusted expertise has also been lent to developing policies at the workplace and creating better, more efficient structures to utilise the available governmental resources to end AIDS. Furthermore, Ms. Raphael is a trusted globally-renowned advocate of effective and efficient education to the community regarding new and developing research for medications that treat and/or prevent HIV. Yvette is featured in the 2018/2019 exhibition at Smithsonian Museum titled outbreaks (those who survive, those left behind). She is also a member of the Global Community Advisory Group for the ECHO trial.