Presentations
9:00 – 9:15 AM: Welcome
Claire Panosian, MD, Co-Director, UCLA Program in Global Health
Matthew Spitzer, MD, President, Médecins Sans Frontières
9:15 – 9:30 AM: Opening Address
Video message from Amelia Nascimento, Chagas patient support group, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Speech by Maira Gutierrez, Chagas patient, Los Angeles
9:30 – 9:40 AM: National Programs for Chagas Disease in Latin America
James Fitzgerald, PhD, Senior Advisor, Essential Medicines and Biologicals, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization (WHO)
9:40 – 9:50 AM: Epidemiological Trends of Chagas Disease in the US
Susan P. Montgomery, DVM, MPH, Parasitic Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
10:00 – 11:30 AM: Panel Chair – James H. Maguire, MD, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Senior Physician, Division of Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Global view of diagnostic testing for Chagas: Myriam Lorca, MSc, PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile; Technical Director, Laboratoria Campus
- Challenges of diagnostics in resource-poor contexts – MSF field experience: Laurence Flevaud, Laboratory Advisor, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
- Blood screening and seroprevalence in the US: David A. Leiby, PhD, Head, Transmissible Diseases Department, American Red Cross
- Chagas treatment in Bolivia, the world’s highest endemic country: Tom Ellman, MD, Head of Mission, Bolivia, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
- Chagas treatment in the US: Sheba Meymandi, MD/Mahmoud Traina, MD, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM: Roundtable on the multilevel barriers hindering patient access to care in Latin America and the US and proposed solutions: 5-min introductions and presentation of issues followed by group discussion – Moderator: Gemma Ortiz M Genovese, BSc(Hon), MSc, Neglected Diseases Senior Advocacy & Liaison Officer, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
- Sergio Sosa-Estani, MD, MPH PhD, Head, Service of Epidemiology, National Center for Research on Endemic Diseases/ANLIS, Argentina
- Victor Condé, MD, Physician, Bolivia Chagas treatment program, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
- Eliana T. Loveluck, MSW, Director, Center for Consumers, The National Alliance for Hispanic Health
- Janine Ramsey Willoquet, PhD, Director, Regional Center for Public Health Research, National Institute for Public Health, Mexico
- Maira Gutierrez, Los Angeles-area patient
2:00 – 3:30 PM: Panel Chair: Julio Urbina, PhD, Emeritus Investigator, Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC)
- Global drug development pipeline for Chagas disease: Isabela Ribeiro, MD, Senior Project Manager, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)
- Drug production and technology transfer in Brazil: Davi Santana, Technical Director, LAFEPE
- Improving diagnostic tools: Rick Tarleton, PhD, President, The Chagas Disease Foundation, and Distinguished Research Professor, Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia
- Search for better Chagas drugs: discovery research efforts: Frederick S. Buckner, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Washington
3:45 – 4:45 PM: Panel Chair: Jana Armstrong, Executive Director, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) North America
- Overview of alternative financing mechanisms: prize funds, advance purchase commitments, patent pools, and voucher systems: Paul Wilson, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Columbia University
- Chagas disease prize fund for the development of new transfers, diagnostics, and vaccines: Erika Dueñas, Charge d’Affaires, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Bolivia
- Pharmaceutical industry perspective on investing in NTD R&D: Drew Lewis, MD, Head, Infectious Diseases Emerging Markets, Pfizer, Inc.
- Incentivizing Innovative Therapeutics for Chagas Disease: David N. Cook, PhD, BIO Ventures for Global Health
- Private sector incentives for NTD R&D: Hannah Kettler, PhD, Senior Program Officer and Economist, Global Health Policy and Finance, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
4:45 – 5:15 PM: Wrap-Up – Presentation and discussion of consensus statements and calls for action
Eric Stobbaerts, Policy & Advocacy Coordinator for Chagas Campaign, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi); Oliver Yun, Medical Editor, Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders
5:15 – 5:30 PM: Closing Remarks
Bernard Pecoul, MD, Executive Director, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi)
