Global Obesity Forum 2025

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.

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 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, while she 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 programs. 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.

Jeanette Rebecca Hunter, has worked in Senior Management positions in and outside of the public sector for the past 36 years.  She is currently the Deputy Director General Primary Health Care at the National Department of Health of South Africa (NDoH). She came into this post from the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Health Systems Trust (HST). Jeanette served as the accounting officer for the North West Department of Health for four years from April 2018. She returned to her role at the NDoH on 12 July 2022.

She has extensive knowledge and experience in strategic planning, policy development, planning and design for policy implementation, implementing monitoring and evaluation systems, and the implementation of information systems.

Jeanette has a solid track record of achievement through a thorough understanding and successful application of strategic and operational planning processes, change management, project management, continuous quality improvement and human dimensions management strategies.

She has had exposure to the international arena in the form of short courses and international meetings. Amongst others being Singapore’s Civil Service College in 2000 and Harvard University’s Public Health School in 2014. World Health Assembly meetings in Geneva, World Health Organization meetings on the African Continent, two BRICS meetings in Russia and Health Systems conferences in China and Kazakhstan. In December 2019,she was part of a team conducting a study of how the Turkish Health System has moved to Universal Health Access. In December 2022, Jeanette represented the National Department of Health of South Africa at the US – AFRICA LEADERS SUMMIT.

Yvette Raphael is currently the Executive Director of Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa. 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 Alta Raphael is a consummate leader in the fight against HIV.

As a woman who has been living with the virus for over 19 years, she has experienced first-hand what HIV stigma, insufficient prevention education, and reduced access to healthcare can do. She utilized 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 utilize 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.