Keynote Speakers
International Keynote Speakers
Dr Saeed Sadiq Hamid, Professor, Department of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Dr Saeed Sadiq Hamid is Professor, Department of Medicine and Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan. He formerly served as Chair, Department of Medicine from 2008-2018. He trained in Medicine and Gastroenterology in the UK, and in Hepatology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, USA. He has been Vice President, Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology and President of the Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD). He is currently Chair of Hepatology Interest Group of the World Gastroenterology Organization, has been a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) from 2006-2010 and has chaired the WHO Guidelines Development Group for Hepatitis C in 2015 and again in 2017.
He sits on Advisory Committees of the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE) and the Hepatitis Fund. His main research interests are viral hepatitis and Liver Failure. He has been an author on over 160 peer reviewed publications and three book chapters. He has mentored a number of postgraduate GI trainees, PhD and other graduate students.
Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa, MD, DTM, MSc, PhD, Senior epidemiologist, Emerging Disease Epidemiology Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
Dr. Yusuke Shimakawa is a senior epidemiologist at the Intitut Pasteur, Paris, an expert on viral hepatitis control in Africa. He obtained a medical degree from the Jikei University, Tokyo, Japan, and MSc and Ph.D. in epidemiology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM).
He has professional experience in working in resource-limited countries as a clinician (MSF in Thailand) or an epidemiologist (MRC Unit The Gambia). He leads several research projects in Africa including the NéoVac (neonatal vaccination against hepatitis B) and HBV LAMP (simplified management of chronic hepatitis B virus infection).
He has been commissioned by the WHO for external reviews and conduct of systematic reviews to inform the guidelines for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B.