Scientific Advisory Committee

Prof Sandra C. Buttigieg is Professor and Head of the Department of Health Systems Management and Leadership (HSML), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Malta. She is a Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Head-Clinical Performance Unit, and Chair-Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Team, at Mater Dei Hospital in Malta. She is the outgoing Global-Representative-at-large of the American Academy of Management-HCM Division. She lectures in HSM, Public Health, Family Medicine, Research Methodology and Evidence-based Health Research (EVBRES).

She authored/co-authored several articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and widely participated in international conferences, and congresses. She is on the Editorial Boards of PloS One, Health Services Management Research, International Journal of Human Resources Management, Journal of Health Organization and Management, and Frontiers Public Health. She is Frontiers Topic Editor: “Network for Evaluation of One Health (NEOH) Case Studies”; “Patient Safety: Delivering Cost-Contained, High Quality, Person-Centered, and Safe Healthcare” and “Health Service Management and Leadership: COVID-Style”.

She is a Fellow of two programmes of the Salzburg Global Seminar, related to health care, which were led by amongst others, past presidents of the Institute of Medicine, namely, Donald Berwick and Harvey Fineberg.

Prof Buttigieg has been visiting scholar in the US (JMU -Harrisonburg, VA), UK -University of Birmingham and Aston University, Birmingham, and Kuwait (Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Kuwait University).

Prof Americo Cicchetti has served as a Professor of Management at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Faculty of Economics, Rome since 2006. He is also currently the Director of the Graduate School of Health Economics and Management at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. In addition to his academic experience, Dr Cicchetti was a member of the Price and Reimbursement Committee of the Italian National Drug Agency from 2009 to 2015. He is a member of the European Network of Health Technology Assessment; Member of the Innovation Steering Group of the National HTA Program for Medical Devices (Ministry of Health, Italy); Member of the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group at the Ministry of Health, Italy since 2019; Member of the Health and Research Commission of the Rome Foundation since 2007; and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Health and Research Foundation since 2017.

Furthermore, Prof Cicchetti is the Chief Executive Officer and Director for Molipharma, whose core business is the research and development of new drugs and diagnostics aimed at predicting, detecting and treating female oncological diseases. He also serves as an independent board member for Foundation Health and Research, and Leonida SICAF, a fixed capital investment company. He obtained his PhD in Management from the University of Bologna, and his B.A. from the University of Rome.

Dr Rui Dang is a senior lecturer in economics at Westminster International University in Tashkent and guest professor in demographic economics at the Gdansk University of Technology and a Global Labor Organization fellow (Bonn, Germany). He is a member of the Education Committee, Global Health Competencies Sub-Committee and SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Taskforce at the CUGH-Consortium of Universities of Global Health (Washington D.C., USA).  

In addition to his role with EHMA’s SAC committee Rui is an associate editor for the IJTAHC-International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care, Cambridge University Press, and editorial board member of the Journal of Migration and Health, Elsevier, serves as a co-convener for the Special Interest Group of the Economics of End-of-Life Care and Palliative Care, as well as Special Interest Group of Early Career Researchers under the iHEA-International Health Economics Association(https://www.healtheconomics.org/). Since 2020 he is engaged in the knowledge mobiliser network of the UK parliament.  

Rui has served as a European Commission external expert, in the abstract review committee of the International Health Economics Association Scientific Committee Review Panel, the CUGH-Consortium of Universities for Global Health Conference, the 6th International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference 2022 and the jury for the Lancet Global Health-CUGH Global Health Best Poster Competition 2022.  

Prof Dr Marija Jevtic is a full professor at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Medicine, specialist in Hygiene (Public Health) at the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina with sub specialisation in medical ecology; research collaborator at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Research Centre on Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health; associate member of the Academy of Medical Sciences Serbian Medical Society; group analytic therapist and System Psychodynamic Organizational Consultant; EU Climate Pact Ambassador.

She has 25 years of experience in the research and education process and advocacy in public health and environment and health. Field of interest and work: public health, environment and health, SDGs, climate change, disaster and health, migration, mental health, school health, food safety, nutrition, health management, reproductive and sexual health, group psychotherapy, organizational consulting. As a university professor, she has been involved in different curricula development in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Novi Sad in the field of Public Health, Nursing, Disaster medicine, Nutrition, Medical ecology, and Hygiene. She is also a professor at the Faculty of Technical Sciences University of Novi Sad (undergraduate and postgraduate studies) in the field of disaster and vulnerability, public health and emergencies, mental health and psychosocial support in emergencies).

She has been Director of the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina; Head of the Department of Hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad; Assistant minister Ministry of Health RS.

Prof Teresa Magalhães has a PhD in Public Health in the speciality of Health Policy, Management and Administration from Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a post-graduate in Hospital Administration from Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (ENSP) and a degree in management computing. As a Professor at the National School of Public Health, her research activity focuses on the areas of health information systems and predictive and efficiency models. 

Teresa is currently President of the Executive Committee of the Hospital da Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa (Portuguese Red Cross Hospital) and Coordinator of the Working Group for Health Information Management of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Administrators. 

Previously, she has acted as Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte for organisational innovation and information technology and administrator of the department of Heart and Vessels and an Executive Member of the Board of Directors of Setúbal Hospital.  

Prof Dr Henk Nies studied psychology with a specialization in gerontology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. After graduation, he maintained an interest in the relationship between policy, practice and research at the National Hospital Institute (later Prismant) Netherlands, among others. 

Henk is a professor by special appointment of organization and policy of care at the Free University in Amsterdam and a member of the board of directors of Vilans, a national organisation specialising in knowledge management for healthcare and support in the Netherlands. 

From 2001 to 2006 he served as director of NIZW Zorg at the Netherlands Institute for Care and Welfare. After the division of this institute and the merger with several other organizations to create Vilans, he became chairman of the board

Prof Manfred Pferzinger has more than ten years of industry experience. He is Deputy Academic Head, Head of the Institute of Health Management and Programme Director for Management of Health Institutions at the IMC University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria. Furthermore, he is a research associate at the private University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT) in Hall in Tyrol, Austria and at the Institute for Management and Economics in Health Care (IMÖG).  

In recent years, Manfred has intensified his scientific activities in human-centred innovation in healthcare and the future of health using the method of Design Thinking. 

Prof Dr Rui Santana is an Associate Professor, Deputy Director of NOVA-NSPH, Portugal where he is Head of the Department of Health Policy and Management Responsible for Internal Quality. His research interests include the study of Integrated Care, Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, Healthcare Financing and Cost Methods in Health Organisations. Rui also serves as a member of the Pedagogical Council, Scientific Council and Management Council at ENSP-Nova and is a member of the Public Health Research Centre (CISP).  In addition to his academic activity, Rui also has over 15 years of professional experience as a Hospital Administrator.