Day 1

06 December 2020

PATIENT SAFETY

12:15 - 12:30

Safeguarding the Patient Journey During stay in the Hospital
Prof. Tawfik A. M. Khoja | Saudi Arabia

12:30 - 12:45

Patient's Bill of Rights
Dr. Rayana Ahmad Bou Haka | Egypt

12:45 - 13:00

Patient Care During the Pandemic
Dr. Ashraf Mahmoud El Houfi | United Arab Emirates

13:00 - 13:15

Demographics: Patient Doctor Ratio in the City
Dr. Eldaw Suliman | United Arab Emirates

13:15 - 13:25

Challenge the Experts

13:25 - 13:40

Engaging Families in Treatment of Difficult Cases
Ms. Amani Al Bohisi | Jordan

13:40 - 13:55

Incorporating Patient Safety Curriculum for All Health Professionals
Dr. Aaron Han | United Arab Emirates

13:55 - 14:10

Patient Safety on Counterfeit Drug Trade and Medical Devices
Ms. Zahra Mansoor | United Arab Emirates

14:10 - 14:25

Managing End of Life Care Decisions in the Midst of COVID 19 Crisis
Dr. Shazya Rashid Lakadawala | United Arab Emirates

14:25 - 14:40

Challenge the Experts
HEALTHCARE REGULATORS

12:15 - 12:30

A Role Model for Innovative Regulation: Where We Are and What’s Next
Dr. Humayun Chaudhry | USA

12:30 - 12:45

Regulations on Cancer Research
Dr. Zisis Kozlakidis | United Kingdom

12:45 - 13:00

Regulating Telehealth Medicine
Dr. Robin Ohannessian | France

13:00 - 13:15

Regulating Information: Fighting COVID19 Infodemic
Dr. Benjamin Hanson | United Arab Emirates

13:15 - 13:25

Challenge the Experts

13:25 - 13:40

The Integration of Aeromedicine in the UAE COVID19 Response
Dr. Nabila Awadhi | United Arab Emirates

13:40 - 13:55

Futuristic Look at Reshaping Healthcare Regulations
Mr. Martin Fletcher | Australia

13:55 - 14:10

Medical Regulator's Role in Cultural Safety and Health Equity
Dr. Tebogo Kgosietsile Solomon Letlape | South Africa

14:10 - 14:25

The Value of Credential Verification and Accreditation of Medical Schools
Ms. Lisa Cover | USA

14:25 - 14:40

Challenge the Experts
BIG DATA IN HEALTHCARE

12:15 - 12:30

Security of The Big Data in Healthcare
Mr. Mohamed Mostafa | United Arab Emirates

12:30 - 12:45

AI Supporting Remote Patient Care and Clinical Trials
Dr. Walid Abbas Zaher | United Arab Emirates

12:45 - 13:00

The Impact of Big Data on Education: How Big Data is Transforming the Education Sector
Dr. Hatem Al Ameri | United Arab Emirates

13:00 - 13:15

Data Science
Mr. Bart Vannieuwenhuyse | Belgium

13:15 - 13:25

Challenge the Experts

13:25 - 13:40

Decision Matrix in Treating Patient: AI vs Doctors
Mr. Ali Abotteen | United Arab Emirates

13:40 - 13:55

Enhancing Patient Involvement in Shaping the Future Digital Care
Dr. Charles Alessi | United Kingdom

13:55 - 14:10

Documenting, Coding and Reporting During Healthcare Crisis
Ms. Melanie Endicott | USA

14:10 - 14:25

Challenge the Experts

Day 2

07 December 2020

FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE

12:20 - 12:35

The Role of Prevention in Shaping the Future of Healthcare
Mr. Fred Butler Jr. | USA

12:35 - 12:50

Adapting to survive beyond COVID-19: Fostering Innovative Mindset
Prof. Homero Rivas | United Arab Emirates

12:50 - 13:05

Beyond COVID-19’ IHF Task Force: Transforming Health Service Delivery
Ms. Alexandra Gray | Switzerland

13:05 - 13:20

The Future of Healthcare through the Eyes of A Patient
Dr. Mohamed Alsadek | USA

13:20 - 13:30

Challenge the Experts

13:30 - 13:45

The Evolution of Health Monitoring: Wearables
Mr. Rashid Alahmedi | United Arab Emirates

13:45 - 14:00

Reshaping Medical Education for Future Doctors
Dr. Reem Al Gurg | United Arab Emirates

14:00 - 14:15

Future of Health Education and Training: A New Perspective 
Dr. Craig Cheifetz | USA

14:15 - 14:30

Challenge the Experts
PHARMA IN HEALTHCARE

12:20 - 12:35

Value of innovation in pharmaceuticals
Dr. Martin Price | United Kingdom

12:35 - 12:50

COVID 19: Lessons Learned in the Pharma Industry and a Path Forward
Ms. Reham Ainudeen | Saudi Arabia

12:50 - 13:05

Drone-delivered medical supplies
Mr. Vignesh Santhanam | India

13:05 - 13:20

Pharma Industry Regulatory Collaborations: Opportunities and Challenges
Dr. Ali Al Sayed | United Arab Emirates

13:20 - 13:30

Challenge the Experts

13:30 - 13:45

Innovation in Real World Evidence: Implications to Evolving Regulatory Landscape
Ms. Amal Masalmeh | United Arab Emirates

13:45 - 14:00

COVID-19: Lessons learned in the pharma industry: A Healthcare Provider’s Perspective
Dr. Lina Reaide | United Arab Emirates

14:00 - 14:15

Life science collaboration in the Life Sciences ecosystem
Mr. Bart Van Zijll Langhout | Netherlands

14:15 - 14:30

Challenge the Experts
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY

12:20 - 12:35

Innovation and Technology: Amplifying Value for Patients and Stakeholders
Mr. Ahmad Mourad | United Arab Emirates

12:35 - 12:50

The hospital is dead, long live the hospital: Agile innovation in a new reality
Dr. Samir Said | United Arab Emirates

12:50 - 13:05

Connected Health and The Elderly Population
Mr. John Kelly | United Kingdom

13:05 - 13:20

Cloud Clinics Vs. Physical Clinics
Ms. Mubaraka Ibrahim | United Arab Emirates

13:20 - 13:30

Challenge the Experts

13:30 - 13:45

AI in Healthcare Research
Prof. Sir Terence Stephenson | United Kingdom

13:45 - 14:00

Convergence Mental Health: A New Pathway for Transdisciplinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Dr. Harris Eyre | USA

14:00 - 14:15

Is The World Ready for Stem Cells : Applications and Technologies
Dr. Shahrukh Hashmi | United Arab Emirates

14:15 - 14:30

3-D Organ Printing at the point of Care
Dr. Katerina Gjorgjieva | United Arab Emirates

14:30 - 14:45

Challenge the Experts

Day 3

08 December 2020

HEALTHCARE FINANCE

12:20 - 12:35

Surviving and Thriving in the Integrated Health System During the Pandemic
Dr. Azad Moopen | United Arab Emirates

12:35 - 12:50

The Role of Regulator in The Insurance System
Mr. Saleh Al Hashimi | United Arab Emirates

12:50 - 13:05

Health funding approaches and Its impact of Value Based Healthcare
Mr. Rasmus Prior Gjesing | United Arab Emirates

13:05 - 13:20

The Cost of Care Delivery During the COVID 19 Pandemic
Dr. Rolf Hartung | United Arab Emirates

13:20 - 13:30

Challenge the Experts

13:30 - 13:45

Value Based Healthcare.. Cost vs Outcomes
Mr. David Hadley | United Arab Emirates

13:45 - 14:00

A global view of financial challenges facing hospitals from the COVID-19 crisis
Ms. Sandrine Boucher | France

14:00 - 14:15

The Value of Spending on Digital Health
Mr. Fodhil Benturquia | United Arab Emirates

14:15 - 14:30

Challenge the Experts

14:30 - 14:45

Closing Remark
Dr. David J. Shulkin | USA

WELLNESS AND MEDICAL TOURISM

12:20 - 12:35

Medical Tourism: The day after Pandemic
Ms. Maria Georga | USA

12:35 - 12:50

Ensuring Cultural Safety in Medical Tourism
Mr. Irving Stackpole | USA

12:50 - 13:05

The Role of Regulatory Authorities on cross border services of Medical Tourism
Ms. Angeliki Katsapi | Greece

13:05 - 13:20

Global and Regional Outlook of Medical Tourism
Dr. Saif AlJaibeji | United Arab Emirates

13:20 - 13:30

Challenge the Experts

13:30 - 13:45

Ensuring Well-being of Increasing Work-from-Home Job Force
Ms. Tina Northover-Mulders | United Arab Emirates

13:45 - 14:00

Clinical and Population Genomics in the Middle East
Dr. Ahmad Abou Tayoun | United Arab Emirates

14:00 - 14:15

How to enhance the medical tourism in the region
Dr. Anil Bankar | United Arab Emirates

14:15 - 14:30

Challenge the Experts

14:30 - 14:45

Closing Remark
Dr. David J. Shulkin | USA

Startups Disrupting Healthcare

11:00 - 11:10

Opening Remarks & Keynote
H.E. Dr. Jamal Al Kaabi | United Arab Emirates

11:10 - 11:15

Remarks
Dr. Louiza Chitour | United Arab Emirates

11:15 - 11:35

Startup Pitches I
Mr. David Maman | Israel, Mr. Jamie Joint | United Kingdom, Mr. Friedrich Lämmel | Germany, Dr. Ali Mostashari | USA

11:35 - 12:10

Panel
Dr. Ramadan Alblooshi | United Arab Emirates, Ms. Emily Hill | United Arab Emirates, Dr. Bhaskar Dasgupta | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Hamzeh S. Abdulhadi | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Salvatore Lavallo | United Arab Emirates

12:10 - 12:15

Break

12:15 - 12:35

Startups Pitches II
Mr. Kovey Kovalan | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Milo Wiciński | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Adam Odessky | USA, Mr. Fadi Haddad | United Arab Emirates

12:35 - 12:55

Fireside Chat
Ms. Kai Ling Ting | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Baher Hakim | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Majd Abu Zant | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Fodhil Benturquia | United Arab Emirates

12:55 - 13:25

Panel
Dr. Asma Al Mannaei | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Willie Willemse | United Arab Emirates, Mr. Maaz Shaikh | United Arab Emirates, Dr. Anne Mottram | United Arab Emirates

13:25 - 13:30

Closing Remarks
Mr. Babak Ahmadzadeh | United Arab Emirates

TOPICS:

This session will highlight how immunization is among the most cost-effective public health interventions available and is estimated to have averted at least 37 million deaths between 2000 and 2019. Since the establishment of the Expanded Programme on Immunization in 1974, global vaccination coverage increased and the coverage gap between rich and poor countries decreased. Creation of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in 2000 allowed the poorest countries in the world to benefit from new, life-saving vaccines and expand the breadth of protection against an increasing number of vaccine-preventable diseases. Despite this progress, inequities in access to and uptake of vaccines persist. Opportunities to realize the full potential of vaccines are within reach but require focused, tailored and committed action by Governments and immunization stakeholders.

The majority of zero-dose children are found in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in Africa and South-East Asia, where access to vaccines and other health services may be limited for households and communities suffering from cumulative disadvantage that can be social, political, economic, geographical, and health systems factors reflective of entrenched inequalities.

The Immunization Agenda 2030 (IA2030), a new global strategy endorsed by the World Health Assembly in May 2021, aims to reach zero-dose children, and bring them sustainably into the routine immunization system within countries. Aligned to the IA 2030 is the Gavi 5.0 strategy of “leaving no-one behind with immunization” by reaching zero-dose and missed communities. These global strategies recognize that context-specific, country-owned, people-centred, innovative, and tailored approaches must be taken to address this global priority. In working towards reaching every child, innovative approaches, strategic partnerships, transformational leadership, and collaboration across the entire ecosystem is required to ensure that children are reached with life-saving vaccines and health services. This can be achieved through the application of innovative approaches, strengthening the supply chain, supporting national and sub-national planning, budgeting, and training to reach zero-dose children, supporting immunization policymakers and program managers to generate and disseminate accurate, comprehensive, context-specific, and evidence-based recommendations and sharing learnings across and within countries and regions, towards accelerating progress.

This session will explore shaping recommendations to achieve vaccine and therapeutics access, justice, and equity. This includes ensuring safety and effectiveness harmonized through robust systems of global  pharmacovigilance and surveillance. Global production requires expanding support for development, manufacture, testing, and distribution of vaccines and therapeutics to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Global intellectual property rules must not stand in the way of research, production, technology transfer, or equitable access to essential health tools, and in context of pandemics to achieve increased manufacturing without discouraging innovation. Global governance around product quality requires channelling widely distributed vaccines through WHO prequalification (PQ)/emergency use listing (EUL) mechanisms and greater use of national regulatory authorities. Furthermore, such efforts would facilitate improvements and consistency in quality control and assurances. Global  health systems require implementing steps to strengthen national systems for regulating vaccines for children and adults including pregnant and lactating women. A collaborative research network should strive to establish open access databases for bioinformatic analyses, together with programs directed at human capacity utilization and strengthening. Combating anti-science recognizes the urgency for countermeasures to address a global-wide disinformation movement dominating the internet and infiltrating parliaments and local governments.

Approved vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million deaths per year. There is a lack of equitable access to vaccines in the low- and middle-income developing nations. Challenges in the life cycle of vaccine production include process development, lead time, intellectual property, and local vaccine production. A robust and stable manufacturing process and constant raw material supplies over decades is critical. In a continuously evolving vaccine landscape, the need of the hour for developing nations is to manufacture their own vaccines besides having supply security, control over production scheduling and sustainability, control of costs, socio-economic development, and rapid response to local epidemics. There is a need for capacity building of workforce development, technology transfer, and financial support. Technology transfer has improved vaccine access and reduced prices of vaccines. Capacity building for the manufacturing of vaccines in developing countries has always been an area of paramount importance and more so in a pandemic situation.

While we can attribute many public health successes to vaccination, the future presents continued challenges. Diseases remain for which researchers have been unable to find effective vaccines (such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and leishmaniasis) or that flourish in areas of the world where infrastructures for vaccination are poor or non-existent, and even the currently available vaccines cannot be delivered. In other cases, the cost of vaccines is too high for poorer countries to afford, even though this is often where they are most needed. And, of course, although many current vaccines are highly effective, efforts continue to develop vaccines that are more effective than those available today. Thus, researchers continue to explore new possibilities. Higher effectiveness, lower cost, and convenient delivery are some of the main goals.

In a significant stride towards facilitating and informing priorities in global vaccine development for endemic pathogens, the World Health Organization (WHO) has commissioned 16 “Vaccine Value Profiles” (VVPs) to be published in a groundbreaking Supplement in the journal Vaccine.

This milestone is the result of collaborations with several pathogen and vaccine experts, led by the Product Development and Research (PDR) team in WHO’s Immunization, Vaccines & Biologicals department, with the primary objective of advancing the development of vaccines for pathogens that pose a substantial public health and socio-economic burden, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

The forthcoming Supplement is set to feature value profiles focused on 16 pathogens with vaccines in late-stage clinical development. These profiles, meticulously prepared by independent teams of global subject matter experts, compile state of the art, publicly available data and information to establish the current understanding of anticipated vaccine development and implementation feasibility, use cases and potential public health impact of vaccines, once they receive licensure and are deployed for public health purposes.

Vaccine value profiles serve as comprehensive summaries of critical evidence, essential for guiding vaccine funding, research initiatives, and clinical and policy development strategies. These tools aim to serve as key resources for multiple stakeholders in the vaccine development and immunization community, to inform their investment, prioritization and strategic decision-making. The Vaccine Value Profiles are helping to inform Gavi’s Vaccine Investment Strategy (VIS), facilitating evidence-based prioritization of vaccines as well as a regional and global initiative to establish priority endemic pathogens for development of new vaccines, as part of the Immunization Agenda 2030.

This session will highlight how the use of cancer vaccines is considered a promising therapeutic strategy in clinical oncology, which is achieved by stimulating antitumor immunity with tumour antigens delivered in the form of cells, peptides, viruses, and nucleic acids. The ideal cancer vaccine has many advantages, including low toxicity, specificity, and induction of persistent immune memory to overcome tumour heterogeneity and reverse the immunosuppressive microenvironment. Many therapeutic vaccines have entered clinical trials for a variety of cancers, including melanoma, breast cancer, lung cancer, and others. However, many challenges, including single antigen targeting, weak immunogenicity, off-target effects, and impaired immune response, have hindered their broad clinical translation. In this review, we introduce the principle of action, components (including antigens and adjuvants), and classification (according to applicable objects and preparation methods) of cancer vaccines, summarize the delivery methods of cancer vaccines, and review the clinical and theoretical research progress of cancer vaccines. We will also present new insights into cancer vaccine technologies, platforms, and applications as well as an understanding of potential next-generation preventive and therapeutic vaccine technologies, providing a broader perspective for future vaccine design.

This session will explore how Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that harnesses anthropomorphic knowledge and provides expedited solutions to complex challenges. Remarkable advancements in AI technology and machine learning present a transformative opportunity in the drug discovery, formulation, and testing of pharmaceutical dosage forms. By utilizing AI algorithms that analyze extensive biological data, including genomics and proteomics, researchers can identify disease-associated targets and predict their interactions with potential drug candidates. This enables a more efficient and targeted approach to drug discovery, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful drug approvals. Furthermore, AI can contribute to reducing development costs by optimizing research and development processes. Machine learning algorithms assist in experimental design and can predict the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of drug candidates. This capability enables the prioritization and optimization of lead compounds, reducing the need for extensive and costly animal testing. Personalized medicine approaches can be facilitated through AI algorithms that analyze real-world patient data, leading to more effective treatment outcomes and improved patient adherence. Furthermore, the wide-ranging applications of AI in drug discovery, drug delivery dosage form designs, process optimization, testing, and pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD) studies, storage, distribution and delivery mechanisms. This session will provide an overview of various AI-based approaches utilized in pharmaceutical technology, highlighting their benefits and drawbacks. Nevertheless, the continued investment in and exploration of AI in the pharmaceutical industry offer exciting prospects for enhancing drug development, delivery and survey processes and patient care.

In this session, our experts will discuss how the current increase in vector-borne disease worldwide necessitates novel approaches to vaccine development targeted to pathogens delivered by blood-feeding arthropod vectors into the host skin. A concept that is gaining traction in recent years is the contribution of the vector or vector-derived components, like salivary proteins, to host-pathogen interactions. Indeed, the triad of vector-host-pathogen interactions in the skin microenvironment can influence host innate and adaptive responses alike, providing an advantage to the pathogen to establish infection. A better understanding of this “bite site” microenvironment, along with how host and vector local microbiomes immunomodulate responses to pathogens, is required for future vaccines for vector-borne diseases. Microneedle administration of such vaccines may more closely mimic vector deposition of pathogen and saliva into the skin with the added benefit of near painless vaccine delivery. Focusing on the ‘micro’–from microenvironments to microbiomes to microneedles–may yield an improved generation of vector-borne disease vaccines in today’s increasingly complex world.

In this session, our experts will analyze and discuss the dramatic rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among important human bacterial pathogens is reaching a state of global crisis threatening a return to the pre-antibiotic era. AMR, already a significant burden on public health and economies, is anticipated to grow even more severe in the coming decades. Several licensed vaccines, targeting both bacterial (Haemophilus influenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniaeSalmonella enterica serovar Typhi) and viral (influenza virus, rotavirus) human pathogens, have already proven their anti-AMR benefits by reducing unwarranted antibiotic consumption and antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains and by promoting herd immunity. A number of new investigational vaccines, with a potential to reduce the spread of multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens, are also in various stages of clinical development. Nevertheless, vaccines as a tool to combat AMR remain underappreciated and unfortunately underutilized. Global mobilization of public health and industry resources is key to maximizing the use of licensed vaccines, and the development of new prophylactic vaccines could have a profound impact on reducing AMR.

In this session, our team of experts will delve into COVID-19 and influenza; two acute respiratory viral infections that caused pandemics in the 21st century. The influenza virus has been investigated for almost 90 years, and SARS-CoV-2 for more than two years. One hundred years ago, in 1918–1920, influenza A virus caused the most exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic in modern human history. SARS-CoV-2 caused the most devastating epidemic to date in the 21st century. The examples of these two pandemics serve as a perfect demonstration of how scientific knowledge has advanced: medicine, molecular biology, immunology, vaccination, epidemiology, pharmacology, biotechnology, etc. The current COVID-19 pandemic has defined profoundly the most daunting challenges facing the globe. Globalization and human intrusion into wilderness areas will undoubtedly drive zoonotic spillovers, and human beings need to be prepared for such emergence of new diseases linked to zoonoses originating from wildlife. We may base our optimism on recent improvements in mRNA vaccines that favor its fast development, i.e., within 2–3 weeks, and, hence, its rapid mass production. However, this strategy does not provide a universal broad-spectrum vaccine that would provide effective immunity against many related strains of the virus. Such a universal vaccine could be used to prevent diseases caused by both seasonal viruses and pathogens that may emerge in the near future. For this reason, it will also be beneficial for researchers working toward the creation of a universal vaccine.

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