Board of Directors

Dr. Alexandra Brewis (Slade) is a biocultural/medical anthropologist and President’s Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), is senior editor (Medical Anthropology) for Social Science and Medicine, and recently served as President of the Human Biology Association. As an ASU administrator, she founded the Center for Global Health in 2006 and served as Director of the School of Human Evolution and Social Change (2010-2017) and Associate Vice President for Social Sciences (2014-2017).

Brewis’ research uses an array of theories and methods from social science to unravel the complex and fundamental intersections between culture, health, environment, and well-being. The main focus is how low social position and resource insecurity interact with social meanings, daily experiences, and felt emotions to exacerbate the psychosocial stresses that worsen physical and mental health. Basically: to unravel the mechanisms that connect low power to worse health, to reduce human suffering and create health and well-being. To do this, she works with large, diverse, collaborative teams both in and outside of academia (local communities, international development agencies, other state and private institutions like hospitals or NGOs, and/or elected leaders) to translate anthropological research into sustainable, meaningful solutions.

Her research program has produced six authored books, 5 edited volumes, and over 180 journal articles and book chapters. One recent book (with Amber Wutich) is the prize-winning Lazy, Crazy, and Disgusting: Stigma and the Undoing of Global Health, described in reviews as a “boundary-breaking book that should be required reading for anyone interested in public health, medicine, and anthropology. It stands as an exemplar for public scholarship.”

Alex was trained in human biology, cultural/medical anthropology, and demography at the University of Auckland, University of Arizona, and Brown University. Before joining ASU in 2005, she taught at University of Auckland and University of Georgia. Committed to innovation in instruction, she designed and launched the nation’s first (and still largest) global health degree, has developed award-winning student abroad programs (in a dozen countries countries to date), co-leads a large social science laboratory on the Tempe campus where she collaborates on projects with around 30 undergraduate members each semester, and collaborates in research to test how we can best teach global health.

Dr. Joyeeta Gupta is full professor of environment and development in the global south at the Amsterdam Institute for Social Science Research of the University of Amsterdam and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. She is also the Faculty Professor on Sustainability (2019-2024) and leads the programme group on Governance and Inclusive Development, managing 10 permanent facult members, 3-4 post-docs and approximately 60 PhD candidates. Finally, she is also the Co-Convener of the University’s Centre for Sustainable Development Studies, for which she coordinates and leads all related activities, including the recent and successful third annual (virtual) conference – which saw over 1900 registrations and participants from over 30 countries. Joyeeta Gupta is co-chair of UNEP’s Global Environment Outlook-6 (2016- 2019), published by Cambridge University Press, which was presented to governments participating in the United Nations Environment Assembly in 2019, and was covered in newspapers worldwide. It has just won the Association of American Publishers PROSE award for Environmental Science. She has also been named as co-chair of the Earth Commission (2019-2021), set up by Future Earth and supported by the Global Challenges Foundation, together with Johan Rockström and Dahe Qin.

Dr. Motoko Kotani’s journey in academia is marked by a series of notable achievements and leadership roles. She previously served as the Executive Vice President for Research at Tohoku University and was the Director of the World Premier International Research Center Initiative – Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR).

She has further been Executive Director at RIKEN, and currently also serves as a Member, Board of Governors, OIST – Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology School Corporation.

Dr. Kotani was recently appointed to the 10-member United Nations Working Group tasked with advising the UN’s Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). by the UN. She has further served as Executive Member of the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI) of the Cabinet Office of Japan.

Dr. Kotani’s recent appointment as a science and technology co-advisor to the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs in 2022 further exemplifies her standing in the international science policy and and science diplomatic community. Her leadership has been instrumental in various capacities, including her tenure as Vice President of the International Science Council and her significant involvement with the Mathematical Society of Japan, where she served as the first woman president from 2015 to 2017.

Dr. Michael Makanga is a clinician-scientist with 28 years of professional experience of working on health and poverty-related infectious diseases in Africa. This includes 24 years of work experience on medical product development and clinical regulatory activities. He holds a Medical Degree from Makerere University, Uganda; a Master’s Degree at the University of Liverpool, and a PhD Clinical Pharmacology at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. He is also a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dr Makanga is the Executive Director of The European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials (EDCTP). Before joining EDCTP, Dr Makanga was first in clinical practice and academia, and later clinical research and research management. Moreover, he has served in various scientific and policy advisory boards for international product development, philanthropic organisations, World Bank and pharmaceutical companies involved in developing medicinal products for poverty-related and neglected diseases.

Dr. Edwidge Thomas is employed with Northwell Holdings, for-profit fully owned subsidiary of Northwell Health. As the clinical lead, Dr. Thomas provides strategic clinical guidance on business development, identifies, develops, commercially launch, and manage new business and clinical solutions/products with the goal of creating diversified revenue streams for scalable, high margin opportunities for Northwell Health for the betterment of patient care outcomes and experience while reducing total cost of care as well as improving efficiency in care delivery. Dr. Thomas served as Clinical/Executive Director of the Mount Sinai Health System’s Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program’s Performing Provider System from June 2015 to April 2021, Successfully lead and managed Performing Provider System (PPS) to earn the majority of their $400 million award by developing quality medical programs, designing, building, and piloting clinical and social programs to enhance clinical operations infrastructure, improve efficiency, patient care outcomes and experience.

Prior to her role in DSRIP, Dr. Thomas served as faculty and clinical lead at Columbia University School of Nursing and NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and from 1995 to 2015. As a thought leader, she educated and integrated advanced practice nursing workforce in various clinical settings while incorporating clinical, behavioral, and social determinants of health needs of patients to help provide and expand access to quality primary healthcare with a focus on achieving the “triple aim” of improving health of populations through evidence based care and clinical outcomes, enhancing patient experience, and reducing costs as her north star in traditional clinic setting, on a mobile health van as well as foster care agency. As faculty and founding member at Columbia University School of Nursing’s Columbia Advanced Practice Nurse Associates (CAPNA), she drove innovation to create the first nationally known independent Nurse Practitioner primary care practice (CAPNA) to serve commercially insured patient population in a highly competitive New York healthcare market. Experienced and board-certified adult nurse practitioner with proven track record in strategic planning and with notable contributions to practice management, organizational development, inter-professional team building that pioneered nurse practitioners in primary care and other healthcare setting.

Dr. Thomas received her undergraduate degree in Nursing at Rutgers University, Master of Science and Doctor of Nursing Practice at Columbia University School of Nursing, and Master of Science in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Service Research at Cornell University and completed Wharton Nurse Leader Program. She’s a fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and is an active board member of Nursing Education Fund, Columbia University School of Nursing Board of Visitors, Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies Advisory Board Chair, and Community Health Network. Currently engaged in clinical practice as adult nurse practitioner at a Federally Qualified Health Center and adjunct faculty at Hofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies and Columbia University School of Nursing with the goal of educating future clinicians to deliver a higher quality, compassionate, culturally appropriate and comprehensive care to all patients.

Kumsal Bayazit was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Elsevier in February 2019. She has held multiple positions with RELX Group since 2004, most recently as Regional President Europe, Middle East and Africa at Reed Exhibitions. Before joining Reed Exhibitions in 2016, Kumsal was RELX Group’s Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for driving strategic initiatives, technology strategy and portfolio management. Prior to that she served in several operational and strategic roles with LexisNexis.

Márcia Balisciano, MBE, Ph.D., is founding global head of ESG and corporate responsibility at RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics, decision tools and events with 33,000+ people and operations in 40 countries. Engaging colleagues throughout the business, she works to ensure RELX’s extra-financial performance furthers competitive advantage and stakeholder confidence. She is Chair of the UN Global Compact Network UK and a Board member of the Foundation for the Global Compact; Chair of the Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Council of the Conference Board; and a founding Board member of the Ban Ki-moon Centre for Global Citizens. She is founding director of London Museum and educational facility Benjamin Franklin House and previously was special advisor to the American Chamber of Commerce (UK). A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, she holds an MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a PHD in Economic History from the London School of Economics. She is a Member of the British Empire (MBE), an honour awarded by the Queen, and lives in London with her husband and two boys.

YoungSuk ‘YS’ Chi is an international businessman and a leader in the media and technology industry, and currently serves Elsevier and RELX Group in several different capacities. In his primary role as head of Corporate Affairs for RELX Group, he is responsible for government affairs, corporate communications, corporate responsibility, and Asia strategy for Elsevier’s parent company. As non-executive Chairman of Elsevier, he works directly with governments, Elsevier customers and in industry associations worldwide. Mr. Chi also serves as President of the International Publishers Association, a global organization that represents the interests of more than 50 publishing industry association members from countries around the world. Early in his career, as Chief Operating Officer of Ingram Book Group, Mr. Chi founded Lightning Source, the first ever print-on-demand distributor and e-book services provider. After holding several senior executive positions at Ingram Book Group’s parent company, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of Random House. Mr. Chi has also earned widespread respect for his ability to work across cultures. As founding Chairman of Random House Asia, he led efforts to make Random House the first foreign trade book publisher with local language publishing in Japan and Korea. Mr. Chi has served on numerous charitable, educational and industry boards, including Princeton University, Korean American Community Foundation and McCarter Theatre. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the boards of Association of American Publishers and International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers.

Esra is a senior corporate affairs executive with a career that spans healthcare, consumer and regulatory sectors. She joined Elsevier in December 2019 from Coty, the global beauty company, where she was Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. Prior to that, Esra spent over seven years at AstraZeneca as the Global Head of Communications, leading the engagement with a wide range of stakeholders in the research, healthcare and investor ecosystem, including the development of the company’s community investment and sustainability strategy. Before joining AstraZeneca, Esra was an Executive Director of the Advertising Standards Authority in charge of Policy, Public Affairs and Communications, where she played a critical role in establishing internet regulation for the first time and transformed the way the watchdog works with industry and government to maintain responsible marketing standards. Previously, she was Head of Corporate Communications and External Affairs for the L’Oreal Group for seven years where she led the L’Oreal / UNESCO for Women in Science laureate programme. Prior to L’Oreal, Esra was Head of Corporate Affairs for Unilever. Esra is passionate about scientific progress and is a long-standing Trustee and Chairman of the British Skin Foundation, a charity dedicated to advancing research into skin cancer and skin health.

Jan Herzhoff is President of Elsevier’s global healthcare businesses, which deliver information analytics solutions to hospital systems and academic institutions. In 2012 Jan joined RELX, the corporate group of which Elsevier is a part. He has a broad range of experience in Healthcare businesses across several sectors and has held multiple positions with Elsevier, most recently as Managing Director for APAC Health in Singapore with focus on key growth markets like China, India and Japan. He was previously General Manager of Elsevier’s International Education business in London, where he was instrumental in driving the transformation from print to electronic through key product launches and acquisitions. Before joining RELX, Jan was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey and Company in Munich, Germany. He holds a PhD and Masters in Information Systems from the London School of Economics and graduated with a Masters in Finance and Accounting from the University of Bayreuth,

Kevonne Holloway is the Managing Director of Elsevier’s Global Content Partners organization, which creates content for Elsevier’s books, eBooks, and digital solutions. The content provides the foundation for nursing and medical school student education, is sought by healthcare educators, and is used by practicing clinicians and researchers worldwide.
Kevonne is a respected leader in healthcare academic publishing and technology solutions. She brings more than 15 years of health industry experience to her role, managing and implementing pivotal strategic initiatives to provide rich content for Elsevier’s growing digital footprint, which directly improves the customer experience by enriching and advancing outcomes.
Kevonne’s strong background in finance, operations, and management enables her to solve complex problems and turn challenges into opportunities. Her dynamic and inspirational leadership style and passion for supporting customers’ content needs motivate her team to bring Elsevier’s mission to life and achieve key objectives. Kevonne takes great pride in leading by example, developing others, helping them perform at their best, and giving back to the community. She is also a leading member and decisive voice on Elsevier’s Race and Ethnicity Task Force, which is committed to eradicating racial bias from healthcare and research.
Before joining Elsevier, Kevonne worked at Pharmacia, Johnson & Johnson, and Synovate Healthcare.
She completed her undergraduate studies in Finance at North Carolina Central University in Durham, North Carolina, and earned a Master of Business Administration from Maryville University in St. Louis, Missouri. Kevonne is an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and regularly mentors first-generation female college students at her alma mater, North Carolina Central University.
In her free time, Kevonne spends as much time as possible with her family in North Carolina, where she can usually be found chasing after her two young nephews.