Meet our Future Leaders!

Dr Giuseppe Melcore, MD/MSc (Italy); Chair

Giuseppe is currently a resident in Occupational Health at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, stationed at the Ospedale Policlinico Gemelli. Additionally, he collaborates with the renowned Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù in Rome. He holds a master’s degree in Healthcare Management and Risk Management. Driven by a profound passion for mental health, he is now pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical and Forensic Psychodiagnostics. His professional endeavors and research are centered on workplace well-being, prevention, safety and health promotion.

Dr Elisabeth Nöhammer, Associate Prof. (Austria); Vice Chair 

Elisabeth has a background in management, socio-economics (both Masters) and health sciences (Doctorate), which she combines in her research and teaching as an Associate Professor at UMIT TIROL, Austria. One of her main aims is to improve individual and organisational health in hospitals, companies, and tertiary education. For this, Elisabeth studies organizations and their stakeholders on the structural, group and individual levels, applying both quantitative and qualitative methods. She has been actively engaged in health promotion in hospitals since 2014, focusing on employees. Moreover, Elisabeth serves on the steering committee of EUPHA’s health promotion section.

Dr Sander de Souza, MD/MSc-MPH (France)

Sander is a public health physician at Lyon University Hospital (France) and an assistant teacher at Lyon Claude-Bernard University as of November 2024. His position at the promotion, prevention, and population health unit includes participating in the local HPH programme. He graduated from medical school in Paris and Lyon and from the Europubhealth+ double master in Granada (Spain) and Maastricht (the Netherlands), with a specialisation in Governance and Leadership in European Public Health. He has clinical experience and a professional tropism in STI/HIV prevention, family planning, vaccination, and student health.

Dr Usman Iqbal, PharmD/MBA/PhD (Australia)

Usman is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales, Australia, with extensive experience in pharmacy, healthcare management, and health informatics. Formerly an Associate Professor and Digital Health Consultant at Taipei Medical University, he is recognised as a Fellow of prestigious societies such as the International Society for Quality in Health Care and the International Association of Health Informatics and Sciences. He has co-edited journals and spearheaded international Digital Health projects with institutions like Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research, encompassing Digital Health, Artificial Intelligence in medicine, Global Health Informatics, Telemedicine, and Healthcare Quality Management, reflected in over 180 publications.

Ana Paula Beck da Silva Etges, Ph.D, Eng. (Brasil)

Ana is passionate for inspiring people for scientific education and works for a more effective healthcare system. In addition to her position as a Partner from PEV, she serves as a Professor of Epidemiology at UFRGS, HCPA, and Insper and as a Senior Researcher in Health Policy and Economics.  Ana has a Ph.D. in industrial engineering at UFRGS, in collaboration with Stanford, and completed her post-doctoral fellowship in epidemiology at UFRGS in partnership with Brigham Women’s Hospital. She also attended the VBHC Seminary at Harvard Business School and is certified in Effective Writing for Health Care by the Harvard Medical School. She has penned more than 140 publications, all focusing on the intricate fields of Health Economics and Value-based Care.

Sabrina Fournier (France)

Sabrina is a research engineer at the consortium (half hospital, half university) Evidans of Bordeaux. The projects she leads and coordinates are designed to develop « preventive clinical practices », set up structured health channels accessible to prevention, and adapt the MECC (Make Every Contact Count) approach and methodology in the French context. She is also involved in university teaching (sanitary service for health students, final dissertation for advanced practice nurses) and engaged in French “reserve sanitaire,” which is a step in renfort when exceptional sanitary emergencies occur to strengthen the teams in place.

Joanna Wargalla, MA MPH (Poland)

Joanna is a healthcare professional with a linguistic background. She has been working with the HPH Network since 2021. She has translated documents for the Polish HPH National Network and worked on assessing the implementation of HPH standards at a Warsaw hospital, CSK MSWiA. Her work and professional interests are primarily focused on health education. For the past three years, she has worked in the prevention and promotion department of a hospital-based medical institute, PIM MSWiA. She co-organized a diabetes prevention program for residents of the Masovian Voivodeship. She is excited to continue working with the organization to improve the health of people around the world.

Monika Vanhova, MBA (Czech Republic)

Monika is a quality manager and the director of the Institute of Radiation Therapy at the Military University Hospital in Prague. Military University Hospital in Prague joined the HPH international network in 2012 (there are 10 hospitals – HPH members in the Czech Republic presently; the coordinator is the Ministry of Health). Monika has been involved in the hospital´s HPH program since 2014. She participated in several HPH conferences and presented the program at several nursing conferences. The Military University Hospital in Prague develops and implements health support projects for its patients and employees, enabling them to take better control of their health and improve it.