Plenary Speakers
Session 01 – October 17

WHO European strategy for child and adolescent health and wellbeing
Natasha Azzopardi Muscat
Denmark
Dr Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat is a medical doctor, a specialist in public health, and the author of several publications in public health and European health policy.
Following her qualification as a medical doctor from the University of Malta in 1995, Dr Azzopardi-Muscat worked in various areas in the health sector in Malta, including maternal and child health, mental health, and primary care. Her transdisciplinary research bridging health policy, European studies and small states studies led to her PhD entitled “The Europeanisation of health systems: a small state perspective”.
Since 1999, Natasha has been a resident academic at the University of Malta, teaching in the department of health services management and public health. In 2003, she completed her specialization in public health medicine and obtained her membership in the Faculty of Public Health of the United Kingdom. Between 2001 and 2013, she occupied various senior positions in the Ministry of Health in Malta, including that of Chief Medical Officer.
Before joining WHO, Dr Azzopardi-Muscat served as President of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) from 2016 to 2020, where she was actively involved in health advocacy at the European level.
Dr Azzopardi-Muscat is married to Dr Conrad Azzopardi, a practicing physician, and has 3 children.[/modal_popup_box]

Women in paediatrics
Donna Ferriero
USA
Session 02 – October 18

Paediatric pain: Understanding the mechanisms that drive paediatric pain
Rebeccah Slater
UK
Rebeccah studied Physics (BSc) at Imperial College and Neuroscience (MSc) at UCL, and in 2007 was awarded her PhD at UCL under the supervision of Prof Maria Fitzgerald (FRS). Since 2013 she has led the Paediatric Neuroimaging Research Group, which focuses on understanding the mechanisms that underlie the development of pain perception in the human infant. She uses a range of non-invasive brain imaging tools, including EEG and fMRI, to explore the development of pain perception in the human nervous system.
She has published many articles about infant pain and is regularly involved in science communication and the public engagement of science. Rebeccah holds an honorary research position in the Neonatal Care Services at the John Radcliffe Children’s Hospital and is a PI at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging (WIN). In 2017 was elected as a ‘Young Scientist’ by the World Economic Forum.[/modal_popup_box]
Session 03 – October 19

The effect of poverty on the life of a child
Michael Marmot
UK