Appendix C
Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers
Martín Benavides Abanto, Ph.D., was the Executive Director at the research center GRADE and led the institution in the first round of the Think Tank Initiative. He also served on the Steering Committee of two global initiatives: Southern Voice and a Network of Latin-American Centers (ILAIPP). He is now a Senior Researcher at GRADE. He also works as a Professor in the Department of Social Science at Pontifical Catholic University, where he is a member of the Faculty Council and the Advisory Committee of Graduate Programs in Sociology. He has published on topics such as violence, education, inequalities, and youth.
He served as a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University during the 2007–2008 academic year and as an Affiliated Researcher at the Stanford Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality. He has been working on several projects for Ford Foundation, Bernard van Leer Foundation, International Development Research Center (IDRC), Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the World Bank. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University where he also attained a master’s degree in Education Policy.
Constanza Alarcón, Ph.D., a Colombian expert on childhood and adolescent public policies design and implementation, with special focus on early childhood, works in the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia as the National Coordinator of the Intersectoral Commission for Early Childhood. From the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia she has led the design and implementation process of an innovative public policy,
in terms of integrality and intersectorality, for the early childhood in her country.
Through her extended career, Dr. Alarcón has made an important contribution in the area of early childhood and childhood, from academic, public, and private areas in her country. As a recognized leader in her country and Latin America, Dr. Alarcón brings an enriching perspective built on her experience as the former Deputy Secretary for Childhood in Bogotá, Colombia. Being part of national and international, public, and private organizations, Dr. Alarcón has led several social development projects, including the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public policies, intersectoral and interinstitutional coordination, as well as designing and managing public–private partnerships in the social area.
Prior to her work as Deputy for Childhood, Dr. Alarcón was a United Nations Organization policy advisor on social organizations strengthening to the Office of the Mayor of Bogotá. In the academic sector, she served as Dean and Professor in several schools of education in various universities in Colombia. She also coordinated protection, adoption, and care programs for people with disabilities.
Dr. Alarcón is a psychologist from Colombian National University. She holds a specialization degree on Social Comprehensive Attention in Mental Health, and took a master’s in Educational and Social Development.
Mauricio L. Barreto, M.P.H., M.D., Ph.D., is a doctor (UFBa) and earned his Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the University of London. He is a Professor in the postgraduate program of Collective Health at UFBa and Honorary Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is a 1-A Researcher of CNPq and a Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) and of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). His scientific interests include the role of social and public policy (Family Health Program and Bolsa Familia) in the development, morbidity, and mortality of children.
Raquel Bernal, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Research on Economic Development in the Economics Department at Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia. She worked as an assistant professor at Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) between 2003 and 2007 prior to moving to Colombia. Her recent research focuses on the determinants of an individual’s performance in the labor market and in particular, the determinants of ability at early stages of life. Current research projects include the study of the effects of women’s employment and childcare choices on children’s cognitive ability as well as estimation of the effects of childcare quality and parents’ specific time allocations on children’s development. She has also worked in the evaluation of a wide
variety of early childhood development programs in Colombia for which she has assessed more than 35,000 children and successfully worked jointly with the government in improving and innovating in ECD policy design. Dr. Bernal holds a Ph.D. in Economics from New York University and received her M.A. and B.A. degrees from Universidad de Los Andes.
Zulfiqar A. Bhutta, MBBS, FRCPCH, FAAP, Ph.D. (Forum Co-Chair), is the Robert Harding Inaugural Chair in Global Child Health at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto; the Co-director of the SickKids Center for Global Child Health; and the Founding Director of the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, at the Aga Khan University, unique joint appointments. He also holds adjunct professorships at the Schools of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore), Tufts University (Boston), University of Alberta, and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He is a designated Distinguished National Professor of the Government of Pakistan and was the Founding Chairman of the National Research Ethics Committee of the Government of Pakistan from 2002–2014.
Dr. Bhutta’s research interests include newborn and child survival, maternal and child undernutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies. Dr. Bhutta is one of the seven-member Independent Expert Review Group (iERG) established by the United Nations Secretary General in September 2011 for monitoring global progress in maternal and child health MDGs. He represents the global academic and research organizations on the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) Board, is the Co-Chair of the Maternal and Child Health oversight committee of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) of the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as the Global Countdown for 2015 Steering Group. He has served as a member of the Global Advisory Committee for Health Research for the WHO, the Board of Child & Health and Nutrition Initiative of Global Forum for Health Research, and was a founding board member of the Global Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH). He serves on several international editorial boards. Dr. Bhutta is currently a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Committee for Vaccines (SAGE), the Expert Advisory Group for Vaccine Research, the Advisory Committee for Health Research of WHO EMRO, and a Co-Chair of its apex Regional Committee for Maternal and Child Health. He has won several awards, including the Aga Khan University Awards for Research (2005), Distinguished Faculty (2012), and the WHO Family Health Award (2014). Dr. Bhutta received his Ph.D. from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health, American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.
Paulo Bonilha graduated from Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM) da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). He received his master’s degree in child and adolescent health in the Department of Pediatrics of the FCM-UNICAMP. He is currently General Coordinator of child health and breastfeeding in the Ministry of Health, Brazil.
Florencia Lopez Boo, Ph.D., is a senior social protection economist with the Social Protection and Health Division of the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Her previous positions include working at the IADB Research Department, the World Bank, the OPHI Institute in Oxford’s Department of International Development, as well as teaching at the University of Oxford and the University of Louvain-la-Neuve.
Her work focuses on early childhood development and evaluation of the impact of social protection programs in various Latin-American countries. Most of her current work includes projects and evaluations to inform scalable approaches to parenting interventions. Other research includes work on the measurement of quality in childcare settings for very young children. She received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Oxford and a master’s degree from the University of Namur (Belgium). Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Human Resources, Economic Letters, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Journal of Development Studies, and the Cambridge Journal of Economics. She is also the author and co-author of books and chapters on education and early childhood development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Dr. Lopez Boo is a native of Argentina, and she is also a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) and member of the 2015 Lancet series on Child Development Steering Committee.
Claudia Costin, Ph.D., a Brazilian national, joined the World Bank Group in July 2014. Prior to this, she was Secretary of Education, Rio de Janeiro. Under her stewardship, learning results rose by 22 percent in the city. She also implemented a strong Early Childhood program, working seamlessly across sectors with the Health and Social Protection secretariats. Dr. Costin has been vice-president of the Victor Civita Foundation, dedicated to raising public education quality. Believing in the transformational power of education, she helped create the civil society movement Todos pela Educação, also serving on its technical committee. Convinced that teacher motivation is critical for real learning, Dr. Costin communicates with thousands of teachers using social media.
Her former positions include Secretary of Culture, São Paulo State and Federal Minister, Public Administration and State Reform. She has also served as Executive Secretary, Helio Beltrao Institute and CEO, Promon Intelligens. Earlier, she served as World Bank Sector Manager, Poverty
Reduction and Economic Management, Latin America and the Caribbean, and she has also advised several African governments on public policy and state modernization.
Dr. Costin has held academic positions at the Catholic University of São Paulo, Getúlio Vargas Foundation, INSPER Institute of Education and Research, and École Nationale d’Administration Publique in Québec. She has a master’s degree in Economics from the Escola de Administracao de Empresas de São Paulo of the Fundação Getúlio Vargas.
Javier A. Curcio has a graduate degree in economics from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) with a specialization in the monitoring and evaluation of public policy, health economics, education, and fiscal policy. He is a Research Professor at the Institute of Sciences and the Urban Institute at the National University of General Sarmiento (UNGS), and Associate Professor of Public Finance in the undergraduate Economics program of UBA. He lectures in the following graduate programs: master’s of Economics (UBA); master’s in design and management of social policies and programs (Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences [FLACSO]); and master’s of Public Health at the “Juan Lazarte” Institute of the National University of Rosario, among others. He worked in UNICEF as a specialist in Social Investment and is a consultant to a number of international agencies, such as UNICEF; Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC); Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS); United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the World Bank; and the Inter-American Development Bank. He had also been a government adviser in Argentina and other Latin-American countries in various fields and has numerous publications.
Gary L. Darmstadt, M.D., M.S., is Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health, Professor in the Division of Neonatal and Developmental Pediatrics, and Co-director of Global Pediatric Health in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Previously Dr. Darmstadt was Senior Fellow in the Global Development Program at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), where he led a cross-foundation initiative on Women, Girls and Gender, assessing how addressing gender inequalities and empowering women and girls leads to improved gender equality as well as improved health and development outcomes. Prior to this role, he served as BMGF Director of Family Health, leading strategy development and implementation across nutrition, family planning, and maternal, newborn, and child health.
Dr. Darmstadt was formerly Associate Professor and Founding Director of the International Center for Advancing Neonatal Health in the
Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has trained in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, in Dermatology at Stanford University, and in Pediatric Infectious Disease as a fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he was Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine. Dr. Darmstadt left the University of Washington to serve as Senior Research Advisor for the Saving Newborn Lives program of Save the Children-US, where he led the development and implementation of the global research strategy for newborn health and survival, before joining Johns Hopkins.
Ana Elizabeth de Andrade Lima, M.P.H., is the Executive Committee Coordinator for the Mãe Coruja Pernambucana Program and General Director of Care Management and Strategic policies for the State Health Secretariat of Pernambuco. She received her master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Leeds-England. She also is a specialist in family and community medicine at the University of Pernambuco and a doctor, having graduated from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She is a member of the Associação Pernambucana de Medicina de Familia e Comunidade (APEMFC); Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine (SBMFC); the National Network of Early Childhood (RNPI); State Network of Early Childhood (REPI); committee member of Early Childhood Project Riverside (PIR); member of the Committee of Experts and of the Ministry of Health Social mobilization for the Integral Development of Early Childhood; and the Technical Chamber of Primary Attention of Health–National Council of Secretaries of Health (CONASS).
Joan Lombardi, Ph.D., is an international expert on child development and social policy. She currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Buffett Early Childhood Fund on national initiatives and to the Bernard van Leer Foundation on global child development strategies. She also directs Early Opportunities, LLC, focusing on innovation, policy, and philanthropy. Over the past 40 years, Dr. Lombardi has made significant contributions in the areas of child and family policy as an innovative leader and policy advisor to national and international organizations and foundations and as a public servant. She served in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the first Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development (2009–2011) in the Obama administration, and as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and External Affairs in the Administration for Children and Families and the first Commissioner of the Child Care Bureau among other positions (1993–1998) during the Clinton administration. Outside of public service, she served as the founding chair of the Birth to Five Policy Alliance (now the Alliance for Early
Success) and as the founder of Global Leaders for Young Children. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Save the Children and the Board of Directors for the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning.
Cristina Lustemberg, M.D., a pediatrician, received her medical degree from Universidad de la Republica Uruguay (UDELAR). Since January 2012, she has been the coordinator for Programa Uruguay Crece Contigo with the Presidency of the Republic. From 2005 to 2011, she served in the public sector as head of Niñez y Adolescencia de Administración of State Health Services. Dr. Lustemberg is involved in the Comité de Coordinación Estratégica de Políticas de Infancia y Adolescencia with active participation in the National Strategy for Children and Adolescents 2010–2030 (ENIA).
Eduardo Marino, M.B.A., is the Manager of Evaluation and Research at Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal in São Paulo, Brazil. He earned his master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of São Paulo, and holds a B.Sc. in Animal Production from the State University of São Paulo. As an evaluator of social programs, he has extensive experience in research and program evaluation in the areas of sustainability, environmental conservation, and early child development.
Ann S. Masten, Ph.D., LP (Forum Co-Chair), is Regents Professor, Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development, and Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota. She completed her doctoral training at the University of Minnesota in clinical psychology and her internship at University of California, Los Angeles. In 1986, she joined the faculty in the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota, serving as chair of the department from 1999 to 2005. Dr. Masten’s research focuses on understanding processes that promote competence and prevent problems in human development, with a focus on adaptive processes and pathways, developmental tasks and cascades, and resilience in the context of high cumulative risk, adversity, and trauma.
She directs the Project Competence studies of risk and resilience, including studies of normative populations and high-risk young people exposed to war, natural disasters, poverty, homelessness, and migration. The ultimate objective of her research is to inform sciences, practices, and policies that aim to promote positive development and a better future for children and families whose lives are threatened by adversity. Dr. Masten currently serves on the Board on Children, Youth, and Families (BCYF) and the U.S. National Committee of Psychology for the Insti-
tute of Medicine/National Academies. She formerly served on the BCYF Committee on the Impact of Mobility and Change on the Lives of Young Children, Schools, and Neighborhoods, and the planning committee on Investing in Young Children Globally. She also has served as President of the Society for Research in Child Development and President of Division 7 (Developmental) of the American Psychological Association (APA). She is a 2014 recipient of the Urie Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contributions to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society from APA. Dr. Masten has published and presented extensively on the themes of risk and resilience in human development. Her book Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Children was published by Guilford Press, and she has been teaching a free MOOC (mass open online course) on the same theme since September 2014 on Coursera.
Dominique McMahon, Ph.D., is a Program Officer with Grand Challenges Canada for the Targeted Grand Challenges program. Dr. McMahon primarily supports the Saving Brains program, as well as the development and implementation of other Grand Challenges Canada initiatives. Dr. McMahon has interdisciplinary experience in innovation in the developing world that spans both the medical sciences and social sciences. Prior to joining Grand Challenges Canada, Dr. McMahon completed a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto examining biomedical innovation capacity in Brazil, China, and India. She then completed postdoctoral fellowships in Public Health and in Global Affairs on domestic clinical research capacity in the emerging economies. Dr. McMahon is currently a Research Fellow at the Munk Center for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto.
Ruth Perou, Ph.D., is the Team Leader of the Child Development Studies Team at the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Dr. Perou is working on implementing CDC’s public health research agendas in children’s mental health, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Tourette’s syndrome and related comorbidities. She is the Project Director of Legacy for Children, CDC’s national program to promote optimal child development outcomes in low-income families. Dr. Perou represents CDC on multiple federal workgroups on child development and children’s mental health. She is the CDC liaison to the Carter Center Mental Health Task Force. Her current research interest and expertise are in prevention, early childhood education, early intervention, and promotion of children’s mental health. Dr. Perou received her Ph.D. in Applied
Developmental Psychology from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.
Claude Pirmez, Ph.D., graduated in medicine in 1979 and completed her medical residency in Pathology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She obtained her master’s degree in Medicine (UFRJ 1986) and her Ph.D. in Immunology in collaboration with the University of Southern California. She completed two post-doctorates in Germany, one at the Tropical Institute of Hamburg and the other at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin. She also has an M.B.A. She began working at Fiocruz in 1986. Her scientific experience is mainly in the field of immunopathology of infectious diseases, and she has published more than 70 papers in the field.
Dr. Pirmez is now advisor to the Presidency and a Senior Researcher at Fiocruz. During these years, she has held the following positions: head of the Laboratory of Immunopathology (1992–2000), head of the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (2000–2003), vice-director of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (2005–2008), and Vice-President of Research (2009–2013). Currently, she is also managing the projects of the Grand Challenges Brazil Reducing the Burden of Preterm Birth.
Eduardo de Campos Queiroz, M.P.A., is the CEO of Fundação Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal (FMCSV). FMCSV is a Brazilian family foundation founded in 1965 that focuses on the generation and dissemination of the importance of investing in early childhood development. He currently serves as a board member of the United Way Brazil, Ensino Social Profissionalizante (ESPRO), and Outward Bound Brazil. His previous positions include working as an Advisor to the Secretary of Education of the State of São Paulo, and Executive Director of Outward Bound Mexico and Brazil. Earlier in his career he worked as an investment banker as a currency trader for approximately 11 years. Mr. Queiroz has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Business from Getúlio Vargas Foundation and a master of public administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (Mason and Lemann Fellow).
Marta Rubio-Codina, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Economist in the Centre for Evaluation of Development Policy at the Institute for Fiscal Studies in London. She is currently on leave at the Social Protection and Health Division of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington, DC. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Toulouse. Her research interests revolve around poverty alleviation and the promotion of human capital, particularly in the early years. She has been extensively involved in the design, implementation, and evaluation of large-scale psychosocial stimulation home visiting interventions in Colombia, India,
and Peru; and is currently supporting the design and evaluation of group interventions in Colombia, India, and Mexico. Dr. Rubio-Codina is also very interested in measurement issues; she has led a research project in Bogotá aimed to identify cost-efficient instruments to measure early childhood development outcomes in children less than 42 months for use in large-scale evaluations. Dr. Rubio-Codina also has extensive experience in the evaluation of social and educational government programs in Latin American, including the Mexican Conditional Cash Transfer program. Her research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the British Medical Journal, the Journal of Development Economics, and the American Economic Journal.
Maureen Samms-Vaughan, Ph.D., is known locally, regionally, and internationally for her seminal research, clinical work, and policy development in the field of child health, development, and behavior. She is recognized as an advocate for all children, but particularly those at the early childhood level and those with disabilities. She was appointed the University of the West Indies’ first Professor of Child Health, Child Development and Behaviour in 2006, subsequent to previous academic appointments since 1993. In 2003, she was appointed the first Chairman of the Early Childhood Commission (ECC), a body established by the Government of Jamaica to develop the country’s early childhood sector. Under her leadership, the ECC developed and implemented Jamaica’s first cross-sectoral National Strategic Plan for Early Childhood Development (ECD). This plan has been recognized as an international model. She has guided the development of Jamaica’s National Parenting Policy and is currently coordinating the development of Jamaica’s ECD Policy. Dr. Samms-Vaughan has more than 50 publications in child health and development. She has undertaken consultancies in child development for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the World Bank, UNICEF, and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). She is currently a member of the IADB’s Advisory Group on Early Childhood Development.
Andrea Torres Sansotta is a Social Worker from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile. She has a diploma in Public Management from University of Chile. She worked for more than 15 years in the public sector of Chile. She was the national coordinator of Housing Program for “Chile Solidario System” (Fund of Solidarity and Social Investment, FOSIS). Also, she was the National Coordinator of the Biopsychosocial Development Support Program and the Newborn Support Program for the Ministry of Planning in Chile. Between 2009 and 2012 she was the National Coordinator of the Comprehensive Protection System for Early Childhood called “Chile Crece Contigo.” She has been an international
consultant in public policy management in early childhood development for the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. She came back to the National Coordination of “Chile Crece Contigo” in the Ministry of Social Development.
Liése Gomes Serpa is a Sociologist, Art-Educator, Consultant, and Coordinator of the Primeira Infância Melhor (PIM) Program. She is a facilitator and panelist of Art Education courses and Environmental Education, as well as on the methodology of PIM. Her priority projects developed by the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, include the Stork program, Primeira Infância Melhor, and the Strengthening of Primary Care. Ms. Gomes Serpa earned her M.A. in Collective Health.
Aimee Verdisco, Ph.D., entered the Inter-American Development Bank in September 2001. Since October 2011, she has been a Lead Specialist in the Education Division, located in the Bank’s office in Bolivia, where she holds responsibility for the execution of large-scale education operations in the country. She also leads a regional project on child development indicators (PRIDI) and provides technical assistances to various operations throughout the region. She has worked on loan operations in most all Bank member countries and undertaken analytical work on topics related to education and early childhood development. She is the author of peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, institutional reports, and a book on how to improve the performance of education systems in the region.
Susan Walker, Ph.D., joined the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit (TMRU), University of the West Indies (UWI), in 1985 after receiving a Ph.D. from the University of London, United Kingdom. Dr. Walker’s main research interests are the effects of early life experiences, including nutrition, health, and psychosocial factors, on children’s development and behavior, and the design and evaluation of sustainable interventions to improve children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes. Her current work includes projects to inform and develop scalable approaches to parenting interventions. Other research includes evaluation of interventions to promote social and emotional competence in young children to prevent later aggressive behavior. Dr. Walker was appointed Senior Lecturer in 1995 and Professor of Nutrition in the Epidemiology Research Unit, Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI) in 1999. She leads the Child Development Research Group within the TMRI and was appointed Director of the TMRI in 2012. She received the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research in 2007. Through her research, Dr. Walker has demonstrated that a home visiting stimulation program has sustained benefits for undernourished children’s cognitive ability, education, and emotional
well-being through age 22 years. The program, delivered by community health aides, aims to improve mother–child interaction, as well as increase stimulation and play. She and her group have also demonstrated that this intervention can be successfully integrated into existing health services. This work has been used by several agencies to demonstrate the need to integrate child development services into nutrition and health programs. Dr. Walker is a member of the Global Child Development Group, which promotes research on child development in developing countries and translation of research to policy.
