Prof.Dr. Hermann Requardt is a member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Sector. After completing his studies in physics and philosophy at the Darmstadt University of Technology and Johann Wolfgang Goethe University/Frankfurt and receiving a doctorate in biophysics, he worked at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center. In 1984 he joined the Medical Technology Group of Siemens AG, where he was responsible for projects in the Magnetic Resonance division. He was appointed head of the division in 1995. From 2001 to 2006, as a member of the Executive Management of the Medical Solutions Group, he was responsible for several areas, including technological development. In 2006 he became a Member of the Siemens Managing Board and head of Corporate Technology. He was appointed as the Sector Healthcare CEO in 2008. Since 2006 he is an honorary professor in physics of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.

Hermann Requardt will speak at the following sessions:

Keynote Lecture
Monday, October 24^th, 2011
9.00-10.00

In her role as Associate Dean Research (Clinical, Public and Allied Health), Associate Professor Robin Bell assists the Deputy Dean Research in ensuring that the Faculty is recognised nationally and internationally for research excellence. This involves providing leadership in all aspects of clinical, public and allied health research, developing and implementing plans to increase the Faculty's performance in attracting external research income, and undertaking strategic planning of research priorities, targets and programs.

Her primary appointment is as Deputy Director of the Women's Health Program, Monash University, in the Department of Medicine at the Alfred Hospital. She also has a fractional appointment within the Monash Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, from which she co-ordinates the teaching of population health in the first year of the MBBS program. She is passionate about this educational role, as well as her work in teaching quantitative analytical skills to higher degree students.

Robin's research interests include all health issues affecting the lives of women, particularly the health of women at mid-life and beyond. The Women's Health Program has active research projects investigating various aspects of cognitive function, breast cancer, sexual function, joint health, and urinary incontinence. The program has a wide range of collaborative relationships at the Alfred hospital site and at other Monash campuses.

Robin Bell will speak at the following session:

M8 Alliance Symposium
A Healthy Start to Life - The Importance of the Right Start 

Wednesday, October 26^th, 2011
12:00-13:30

Dr. Klag is Dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the oldest and largest independent graduate school of public health in the world. He is chair of the Association of Schools of Public Health and chair of the NIH Advisory Board on Clinical Research.

Dr. Klag is a renowned chronic disease epidemiologist whose scientific contributions have been in the prevention and epidemiology of kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. He was one of the earliest investigators to apply epidemiologic methods to the study of kidney disease. From 1988 until 2011 he directed one of the longest running longitudinal studies in existence, the Precursors Study, which began in 1946. Dr. Klag is the author of over 200 publications and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Johns Hopkins Family Health Book.

Dr. Klag earned his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania and his MPH degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Prior to his current position, Dr. Klag was formerly on the faculty in the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine where he was Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine and the first Vice Dean for Clinical Investigation.

Michael Klag will speak at the following sessions:

Keynote Lecture
Monday, October 24^th, 2011
9.00-10.00

Partner Symposium    
Role of Germany in Global Health
Tuesday, October 25^th, 2011
7.15-8.45

Keynote Lecture
Wednesday, October 26^th, 2011
9.00-10.00

Transitioning Healthcare Systems

Evidence to Policy Linkages - Today's Evidence-Tomorrow's Agenda

Access to Advances in Biotheapies: Scientific, Economic and Social Issues

Partner Symposium on Oct. 24^th
14.00-15.30

The transition of healthcare systems and the multi-partnering approach are intensely debated. The multi-partnering approach offers a possible solution to the challenges faced by healthcare systems across the globe. Low birth rates, combined with longer life expectancy contribute to aging societies that place greater demands on healthcare systems.

To overcome these challenges, we need a healthcare infrastructure that provides optimized and affordable care and sustainable solutions. Technical innovations and collaboration beyond traditional segments are necessary to optimize structures as well as processes. This includes a balanced cooperation between payers, providers, diagnostics, pharmaceutical industries, and the patients, which can enable more people to lead healthy, high-quality lives well into old age.

The panel discussion addresses the transition of healthcare systems and the multi-partnering approach and thoroughly conducts a review with different stakeholders. How can we improve efficiency and care? How can we keep costs in check? How can multi-partnering ensure a sustainable healthcare offering? How can different stakeholder groups speed up the development of joint solutions?

Cord Staehler, Siemens Healthcare`s CTO will begin with a short introduction to open up the discussion. 

Panelists:

Hermann Requardt, Chief Executive Officer at Siemens Healthcare

Dennis A. Ausiello, Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Chief Scientific Officer of Partners Healthcare

Farhad Riahi-Nejad, Head of Healthcare Systems at Novartis International AG

Hal Wolf, Sr. Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Kaiser Permanente, The Permanente Federation

Chaired by healthcare journalist and consultant Uwe K. Preusker, they will discuss this multi-partnering approach and offer different perspectives with regard to joint solutions.

Panel Discussion Session on Oct. 26^th
10.15-11.45

In an ideal world, scientific evidences should be routinely used and translated into more effective and equitable political and government action to improve public health. This is especially important for developing countries which have to struggle with limited resources and competing priorities. In reality, however, strengthening the link between evidence and policy is often a difficult challenge and many barriers need to be overcome.

Experiences will be presented at this session which range from:

1. the establishment of a national health technology assessment agency in Thailand - an important tool for policy makers in making rational health resource allocation decisions in accordance with the needs of society;

2. implementation research in 7 developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America which expeditiously changed national policy for scaling-up  the rapid diagnosis of congenital syphilis;

3. a public-private development partnership in Botswana which used evidence to enhance national responses to HIV/AIDS

Contributions from panelists representing government, academia and international organizations will help to identify the barriers (and also the drivers) for strengthening links between evidence and policy, and also the important lessons which can be used to inform future efforts in this important area.

Chairs:

Tikki Pang | Director of Research Policy and Cooperation | World Health Organization | Switzerland

Hoda Rashad | Director and Research Professor of the Social Research Center | American University in Cairo | Egypt

Panelists:

Yot Teerawatananon | Director of the Health Intervention and Technology Assessment Program | Ministry of Health | Thailand

Patricia Garcia | Director of the Unit of Epidemiology, STI and HIV | Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia | Peru

Hoda Rashad | Director and Research Professor of the Social Research Center | American University in Cairo | Egypt

Anette Widmann-Mauz | Parliamentary State Secretary | Federal Ministry of Health | Germany

Partner Symposium on Oct. 26^th
10.15-11.45

This joint DKFZ-Inserm session aims at addressing the question how scientific progress and access to new therapies can be efficiently linked. Unfortunately, the transfer of promising results from the laboratory into innovative therapies, diagnostic tools or preventive measures still takes too long.

The question will be addressed how access to advances in new therapies can be increased and what impact increased access may have on the society as a whole.

Chairs:

Otmar D. Wiestler | Chairman and Scientific Member | German Cancer Research Center | Germany

André Syrota | Chairman and CEO | Inserm | France

Speakers:

Alain Fischer | Head of Inserm/Paris Descartes University research unit 768 | Inserm | France

Christof von Kalle | Director, NCT & Professor and Chairman, DKFZ Heidelberg | NCT/ DKFZ | Germany

Ulrik Ringborg | Professor emeritus of Oncology | Karolinska Institutet | Sweden

Theresa Marteau | Director, Behaviour and Health Research Unit | University of Cambridge | United Kingdom