Newt Gingrich, CEO, Gingrich Group, Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
Newt was first elected to Congress in 1978 where he served the Sixth District of Georgia for twenty years. In 1995, he was elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives where he served until 1999. The Washington Times has called him "the indispensable leader" and Time magazine, in naming him Man of the Year for 1995, said, "Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable. Newt Gingrich belongs in the category of the exceptional."

Newt Gingrich is CEO of the Gingrich Group, a communications and consulting firm that specialises in transformational change, with offices in Atlanta and Washington, DC. He serves as a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, the Honorary Chairman of the NanoBusiness Alliance, and as an Advisory Board Member for the Museum of the Rockies, Newt is also a news and political analyst for the Fox News Channel.

Widely recognised for his commitment to a better system of health for all Americans, his leadership helped save Medicare from bankruptcy, prompted FDA reform to help the seriously ill and initiated a new focus on research, prevention, and wellness. His contributions have been so great that the American Diabetes Association awarded him their highest non-medical award and the March of Dimes named him their 1995 Georgia Citizen of the Year. Today he serves as a Board Member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

In his book, Saving Lives & Saving Money, Newt describes his vision of a 21st Century System of Health and Healthcare that is centred on the individual, prevention focused, knowledge intense, and innovation rich. Moreover, he makes the case for a market-mediated system that will improve choice and quality while driving down costs. To foster such a modern health system that provides better outcomes at lower cost, Newt launched the Centre for Health Transformation, a collaborative Centre dedicated to accelerating the creation and adoption of better solutions and better policies for better health.

Professor Alan Maynard, Professor of Health Economics, University of York, United Kingdom
Title: Transforming Healthcare - A European Perspective
Alan Maynard is Professor of Health Economics and Director of the York Health Policy Group in the Department of Health Sciences, University of York. He is also an Honorary Professor of Health Economics at the University of Aberdeen and Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics. He was Founding Director of the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York (1983 - 95) and Founding Editor of specialist journal Health Economics. He has worked as a consultant for the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, and the UK Government's Department for international Development in countries such as China, Cyprus, Chile, Brazil and South Africa. He is published widely in books, specialist journals and the media.

Jim Rice, President, The International Health Summit
Title: Global Trends that will influence the public and private healthcare sectors in the next five years
Jim RIce is President of the International Health Summit, an international knowledge management company focused on public-private partnerships and leadership development in health sectors throughout the World, now operating out of La Jolla, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; London, England; and Santiago, Chile. Dr Rice is Chairman of the IHD Group which has been formed to develop health facilities in Poland and Eastern Europe; he is also Vice-Chairman of The Governance Institute (TGI) of La Jolla, California.

Tom Fox, Partner, Reed Smith Healthcare Group, Reed Smith, US
Tom is a partner in Reed Smith's Health Care Group and has specialised in health care for over 30 years. His experiences include internal investigations for public and private health care providers, directors, lenders, investors and other parties on False Claims Act liabilities, qui tam law suits, and other federal health care program regulatory and enforcement actions, and to advise clients on litigation strategies, disclosure obligations, compliance initiatives, and structuring government settlements. He is recognised for his healthcare law expertise in the National Law Journal's "Who's Who in Healthcare Law" and is Chairman and program moderator for the American Health Lawyers Association's (AHLA) annual program on "Long-Term Care and the Law"

Professor Charles Normand, Faculty of Health Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin
Title: Healthcare Reforms in Europe
Professor Charles Normand has served as the Principal Economist for Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland, and spent 13 years as Professor of Health Economics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the largest public health school in the world outside of the United States. He was previously Deputy Director of the Health Economics Consortium at the University at Queen's University in Belfast. He is currently in Dublin as the Edward Kennedy Professor in Health Policy and Management at Trinity College.

Michael Kelly, Secretary General, Department of Health and Children, Ireland
Title: A New Vision: Healthcare Reform in Ireland

Geert Jan Hamilton, Director of Legislation and Legal Affairs, Ministry of Health, The Netherlands
Title: The Dutch Healthcare Reform: Towards Private Health insurance for All
Geert Jan Hamilton has been Director of Legislation and Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports in The Hague since 1999. Previously he was Vice-President of the Association Internationale de la Mutualité. As a consultant to the World Bank he has participated in several missions to Latin American and Eastern Europe, and was editor-in-chief of the Dutch magazine "Zorg en Financiering" (Healthcare and Financing).

Willy Palm, Director, Association Internationale de Mutualité (AIM)
Title: Patient Mobility in an Enlarged Europe
As a lawyer, specialised in European social security law, Willy Palm has been Director of AIM since 1988, the international association of mutual benefit societies. In his present function, he has specialised in topics related to the impact of EC law on health systems. With respect to patient mobility within the European Union, he was one of the authors of a study commissioned by the European Commission on the "Implications of recent jurisprudence on the co--ordination of health systems" (May 2000). This study analysed some rulings of the European Court of Justice on the right of patients to receive medical care in another Member State without prior authorisation at the cost of their national security scheme.

Marc Berthiaume, Directorate General, Employment and Social Affairs, European Commission
Title: The European Health Insurance Card

Zenna Atkins, Chairman, Portsmouth Primary Care Trust; Managing Director, Social Systems Ltd, UK
Ms Atkins is NHS Primary Care Trust Chair in Portsmouth and Managing Director of Social Solutions, her own social sector consultancy company, dedicated to building capacity and maximising opportunities for that sector. She has a national reputation, is a sought after conference speaker and is an advisor on governmental panels and committees, exploring a range of issues including health, social engagement and social entrepreneurship.

Professor Jes Olesen, President, European Brian Council
Professor Olesen is Professor of the Department of Neurology, Glostrup Hospital, Denmark and Professor of Neurology of the University of Copenhagen. He was visiting Professor at Harvard University in 1999. Professor Olesen is currently President of the European Brain Council a not-for-profit organisation bringing together most major organisations with an interest in the brain. Members are European-wide organisations representing neurologists, psychiatrists and neurosurgeons as well as others representing patient organisations for psychiatry and neurology.

Tony Sullivan, President Elect, IDF European Region

Edward Miller, Partner, Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions, Reed Smith, UK
Edward Miller is a partner at Reed Smith, London specialising in international transactional work and UK and European competition and anti-trust regulation. In pharma/biotech, life sciences and healthcare, Edward has particular experience in advising French, US and UK based groups regarding cross border commercial agreements, including public authority contracting, distribution and licensing arrangements, and the establishment and termination of international joint ventures. He has also successfully represented clients in anti-trust investigations conducted by the European and UK authorities, in the conception and implementation of international pricing and distribution structures, and in obtaining multi-jurisdictional merger clearances.

Jerry Mansmann, Executive Chairman, Nations Healthcare

Steve Thompson, CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Martyn Howgill, Vice President, MD Anderson, University of Texas

Nicholas Jennett, European Investment Bank
Nick joined the European investment Bank, the European Union's long term financing institution, in 1998 to work on the Bank's lending to Europe's healthcare sector. He has worked on the finance of health projects in many European countries, and now concentrates on PPP investments in hospitals, schools and other infrastructure in the UK and Ireland.

Nick has published on a range of healthcare related topics. Most recently, he has written on the importance of investment in health to support the EU Accession process in a major study on health and accession to be published by the European Observatory on Health Care Systems and the Open University Press.

Michael Mead, UBS

Adam Kruszewsky, Investment Director of Enterprise Investors, Poland

Douglas Rofé, Partner, Securities and Taz Group, Reed Smith, UK
Doug Rofé is a corporate finance and banking partner with Reed Smith in London. His recent work in the healthcare and life sciences sector has included advising Nations Healthcare on projects with the UK National Health Service and Department of Health as well as providing general corporate advice to various US based pharmaceutical and life sciences groups.

Dr Jack Waters, VIce President, Pfizer Inc.
Title: The Impact of Healthy Ageing Initiatives
Dr Jack Watters trained in medicine at the University of Edinburgh in his native Scotland. After hospital appointments in Edinburgh he entered the pharmaceutical industry in 1981, joining Ciba-Geigy in Basel as a clinical monitor of the landmark IPPSH study.

Dr Watters spent six years as the OTC medical director for Sterling Winthrop in New York before joining Pfizer in 1994 as Director, Medical Operations for Africa, Middle East and Asia. He was appointed Vice President, Medical - Europe and Canada in July 2000.

Baroness Sally Greengross, OBE, Vice President, Age Concern UK
Title: Alliance for Health and the Future - a Call for Action in the Future Europe
Baroness Greengross, OBE, was Director General of Age Concern England from 1987-2000, when she was awarded life peerage. At Age Concern she established many innovative programmes including Age Resource, the Employers Forum on Age, Ageing Well among many other, and developed the organisation into a multi-million pound organisation.

Since 2000, she has been a board member of HelpAge International and holds honorary positions with a range of national and international charities and voluntary bodies. Baroness Greegross has been a recipient of a number of Honorary Doctorates and was voted UK Woman of Europe in 1990, and was awarded an OBE in 1993.

Mr Robin Webster, CEO, Age Action Ireland
Title: Empowering the Experienced Generation
Robin Webster has been the Chief Executive of Age Action Ireland since its establishment in 1992 as the independent national network on ageing and older people in Ireland.

He is a Social Science graduate, with post-graduate qualifications in education, social work and gerontology. He has wide experience of adult education, community development, social planning and social work through his professional and voluntary work. For over 25 years, his main interests has been ageing and older people, with a particular interest in social policy.

Dr Colin Goldschmidt - M.B, B.Ch, F.R.C.P.A, F.A.I.C.D.
Dr Colin Goldschmidt is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Sonic Healthcare Limited, a publicly listed Australian Top 100 company, and is Chief Executive Officer of Sonic's largest subsidiary, Douglas Hanly Moir Pathology.

Dr Goldschmidt, a pathologist, qualified as a doctor in 1977 and completed his pathology specialisation in 1986. Following his appointment to the position of Managing Director of Sonic Healthcare in 1993, Dr Goldschmidt has committed the Sonic group to the maintenance of market leadership in Medical Diagnostics (Pathology and Radiology) through the pursuit of staff satisfaction, professional service and consistent earnings growth for shareholders. Within the context of corporatised medical diagnostics, Dr Goldschmidt has initiated and promoted Sonic's philosophy of "medical leadership" in order to preserve the balancing needs of both health care customers and shareholders alike.

Sonic Healthcare has recently expanded into the United Kingdom with the acquisition of the London-based pathology practices of The Doctors Laboratory and Omnilabs, and with a pioneering joint venture with the National Health Service's University College London Hospital.

Professor Samuel Machin, University College London Hospitals
Professor Samuel Machin is the Head of the Haemostasis Research Unit in the Department of Haematology, University College Hospital, London. He is also Consultant Haematologist for London University College Hospitals, Honorary Consultant at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and Vice President of the British Society of Haematology. He has been significantly involved in forming the public/private clinical pathology venture between Sonic Healthcare and University College Hospital which is the first of its kind in the UK, operating from Sonic's new state of the art laboratory in central London. As part of this venture he is Consultant Haematologist and Medical DIrector for the joint automated laboratory.

Dr Bjorn Magne Eggen, Medical Director, Royal Norwegian Ministry of Healthcare

Martin Bradley, Director, Royal College of Nursing, Northern Ireland
Prior to taking up his post in April 2003 as Director, Royal College of Nursing Northern Ireland, Martin Bradley was Director of Health Care and Chief Nurse at the Western Health and Social Services Board. Prior to joining the Western Board in April 1996 he was Senior Nursing Officer in the Department of Health and Social Services. His background is in general and psychiatric nursing and nurse education, and he has held several Director of Nurse Education posts.

Michael Costello, University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre, Italy

Dr Ray Powe, Managing Director, Locumotion
Ray qualified as a Medical Doctor from UCD in July 1988 and completed his General Practitioner Training in 1992. He spent seven years working in Australia and during this time Ray set up MediVenture, a successful medical services company, which provided a locum support programme for rural doctors which he managed for five years.

Inspired by the success of MediVenture, on his return to Ireland Ray set up Locumtotion Ltd. in May 2000. The Company provides a quality General Practice and Hospital Locum Service to and from Ireland in addition to providing continuous professional development opportunities for Locum's and GP's.

Mark Moran, CEO, Mater Private Hospital, Dublin
Mark Moran is CEO of the Mater Private Hospital. A Chemical Engineering graduate of UCD, Mark spent the first twelve years of his career with multinational pharmaceutical and financial services businesses, returning to Ireland in 1997. A Director of EBS, he holds an MBA from Erasmus University, Rotterdam. He is Chairman of Common Purpose Ireland and a member of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

Per Batelson, CEO, Capio

Deirdre Foley-Woods, Reed Smith Healthcare Consulting, Dublin
Deirdre Foley-Woods is a senior consultant and project leader with Reed Smith Healthcare Consulting specialising in the project management of new hospital initiatives including business planning and development design and commissioning. She has extensive experience in strategy planning ranging from single sites to Regional Health Boards in Ireland. Her career included roles such as Department Manager, Senior Hospital Executive, Project Manager and Head of Organisational Development within a private hospital setting.

Dr Gediminas Cerniauskas, Vice Minister of Health, Republic of Lithuania
Dr Cerniauskas is a Doctor of Economics currently holding the position of Vice Minister of Health of the Republic of Lithuania. Dr Cerniauskas was Director of Health Economic Centre - a leading research, consulting and training Centre in the health care area in Lithuania for 8 years. He has provided expertise for several EU funded projects related to healthcare financing and management. Dr Cerniauskas is the author of a number of publications including a book, "The First Decade of Reforms: Lithuanian Healthcare Sector in the Context of Social and Economic Changes" as well as presenting at various international conferences.

Dr Andreas Polynikis MD, Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health, Cyprus
Since 1996 Dr Polynikis has held the post of Chief Medical Officer, Medical and Public Health Services, Ministry of Health, Cyprus. His current projects include Director of the Task Force for the implementation of National Insurance Health Scheme, Project Manager for the Reorganisation of the Ministry of Health and the Government Hospitals and Project Director for the Cost Estimation of Healthcare Services in Cyprus. He has represented his Ministry and Cyprus in many interntationl forums in the fields of Health Care Systems, Primary Health Care, Health System Research, Health and European Enlargement.

Mr Wiltor Maslowski, Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Health, Poland

Dr Ray Xerri, Director, Policy Development and Programme Implementaion, Ministry of Health, Malta

Vincent Sheridan, Chief Executive, VHI Healthcare
Vincent Sheridan joined VHI Healthcare as CEO in April 2001, with 28 years experience in the insurance industry. He is a chartered accountant by profession and also has a B. Comm degree. He is a past president of the Irish Insurance Federation, the Insurance Institue of Ireland and the Irish Association of Investment Managers. He is currently a director of the Irish Stock Exchange and a council member of the Institue of Chartered Accountants in Ireland, the International Federation of Health Plans and the Financial Reporting Council in the UK.

Nicole Tapay, Principal Administrator, Private Health Insurance, OECD
Nicole Tapay, J.D. is a health policy expert with over a decade of experience in the ares of health care coverage and regulation. In her position as Principal Administrator, Private Health Insurance (PHI), at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs (DAFE), Financial Affairs Division, she has served as the lead staff for the OECD's Private Health Insurance Task Force, and played a key role in the development of the forthcoming OECD publication on the role of private health insurance in OECD countries prior to joining the OECD, she was a Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank, focusing on international PHI and social health coverage issues. A member of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, she graduated from Georgetown University Law Centre in 1991, and Princeton University, magna cum laude, in 1986.

Gerard Vincent, President, Standing Committee of the Hospitals of the EU, Belgium
After 9 years in the Ministry for Social Affairs, Gerard Vincent became Director General of the French Hospital Federation in March 1998. He has a diploma in Hospital Management at the National School of Public Health (Rennes, France) followed a degree in Political Sciences and a master of arts (Grenoble, France).

Before becoming in 1977 Cheif Executive of the prestigious hospital Hotel Dieu de Paris, he worked during 7 years as deputy in various Publicly Assisted Hospitals of Paris; such as Bichat, Claude Berbard and Antoine Beclere. Recruited Director for Hospitals, Ministry of Health, in 1989, he was in charge of the 1991 Hospital Law, which reformed in depth the French hospital sector. Promoted Social Affairs General Inspector in 1995.

Mr Vincent is Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur and Officer de l'Ordre National du Mérite. He was president of the SNCH, the public hospital managers' trade union, from 1982 to 1989.

In May 2002 he became President of the Standing Committee of the Hospitals of the European Union. He is also Vice President of the International Hospital Federation.