Organising Committee

Ms. Amalia Voskanyan

Co-Director, BIDMC Fellowship in Disaster Medicine | Director of International Relations | Department of Emergency Medicine | Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians , BIDMC | USA

Amalia Voskanyan serves as the Co-Director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Fellowship in Disaster Medicine, and the Director of International Relations in the Department of Emergency Medicine at BIDMC. She has over 20 years’ experience building global partnerships in the areas of disaster risk reduction and resiliency, with specific expertise in solution cultivation and program development. Amalia has taken a leadership role in developing centers of excellence in Disaster Medicine around the world and serves as a mentor for the World Health Organization’s Emergency Medical Team initiative. Ms. Voskanyan has also worked in a leadership capacity providing oversight and guidance for several non-governmental organizations on humanitarian programs, and has served as a consultant to the White House Medical Unit.

Dr. Salama Husain Bin Rafeea

Emergency Medicine Consultant, center of Emergency Preparedness and response advisor , DOH | United Arab Emirates

Dr. Salama Jamal Hussain Mohamed Bin Rafeea, Emergency Medicine Consultant, center of Emergency Preparedness and response advisor Dr. Salama is currently continuing her education to obtain a Doctorate in Transformational Leadership, Corporate Entrepreneurship. Working at the Emergency Operations Center during the nation’s fight against COVID-19 served as a steppingstone in her career that tested and honed her abilities.

Dr. Duane Caneva 

Advisor CEPAR/ Adj Faculty Disaster Medicine Fellowship BIDMC Harvard , AD DOH CEPAR | United Arab Emirates

Duane Caneva is an Emergency Medicine Physician currently serving as an advisor to the Abu Dhabi Department of Health Center of Emergency Preparedness and Response (CEPAR). He served in the US Navy for 23 years with operational tours of duty as the physician on a nuclear missile submarine, with the Navy SEALs, with the US Marines Chemical Biological Incident Response Force, and with the Shock Trauma Platoon in Fallujah, Iraq. He has served on two details to the White House National Security Council staff and recently retired as the Chief Medical Officer for the US Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Yasser Sharif

Section Head Hospital Preparedness , Department of Health – Abu Dhabi (DOH) | United Arab Emirates

" Dr. Yasser Sharif is a qualified physician and the head of Department of Health Abu Dhabi hospital preparedness section, his responsibility includes strategic planning, developing, implementing and evaluating solutions to improve emergency response outcomes in medical related emergencies and disasters for the health care sector in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. He helped to develop and establish the CBRNE capabilities for the healthcare sector in Abu Dhabi particularly for Barakah Nuclear Power plants, assist in building and sustaining Abu Dhabi strategic medical stockpile which was fundamental in the successful response efforts to COVID19 and improved Abu Dhabi blood bank capabilities to include new services and developed a strategic stockpile of frozen blood units, he also developed the business requirements for DOH WebEoc (Estijabah System) and helped evolve the system to become a key component in tracking critical healthcare resources and responding to emergencies and disasters especially during COVID 19 Pandemic. "