Regional Coordinators 2010

Professor Nadia Aït-Khaled

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for French-speaking Africa

Professor Aït-Khaled was previously Professor and Head of Department of Pneumology and Functional Respiratory Exploration in Algeria, and is currently the Chief of the Asthma Division and Chair of the Scientific Committee of Respiratory Diseases of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD).

Professor Aït-Khaled's research interests include implementation of projects for lung health, integration with tuberculosis control, standardised case management both for asthma patients and for the main prevalent respiratory diseases, tobacco control and pollution in middle- or low-income countries.

Professor Bengt Björkstén

Roles:

• ISAAC Executive
• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Northern and Eastern Europe
• National Coordinator for Sweden

Bengt Björkstén is Professor of Paediatrics and Allergy Prevention and Director of the Centre for Allergy Research at the Karolinksa Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden and adjunct professor at Tartu University, Estonia.

Professor Björkstén's research interests include the development of immune responses to allergens in relation to genetic factors. Particular interest is devoted to the influence of environmental factors on this process. Professor Björkstén is also actively involved in cross-sectional and prospective epidemiological studies of childhood allergy in Eastern and Northern Europe.

Dr Sunia Foliaki

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Oceania

For the past eight years Sunia has been based at the Ministry of Health in his native home Nuku'alofa, Kingdom of Tonga. He has now been awarded a two-year Wellcome Trust Fellowship and will be based with Neil Pearce at the Centre for Public Health Research at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand.

Professor Dr med Ulrich Keil

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Western Europe
• National Coordinator for Germany
• Principal Investigator for Münster

Professor Keil is Chair of the Institute for Epidemiology and Social Medicine at the University of Münster and has previously held senior research positions at the University of North Carolina and Ruhr University Bochum. Professor Keil has also served as advisor to national and international scientific councils including the World Health Organisation (WHO), the German Research Board, the Science Advisory Board of Germany and the BIOMED programs of the European Union.

Professor Keil's research interests include the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases, the epidemiolgy of respiratory disease and occupational epidemiology.

Dr Chris Lai

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Asia-Pacific
• Phase One Principal Investigator for Hong Kong

Dr Lai is Adjunct Professor at the Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dr Lai's research interests include asthma epidemiology and pharmacology.

Professor Javier Mallol

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Latin America

Professor Mallol is Professor of Pediatric and Director of the Department of Pediatric Respiratory Medicine, Hospital CRS El Pino, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Santiago de Chile (USACH).

Professor Mallol's research interests are pulmonary function in infants and children, recurrent wheezing in infants, asthma prevalence and treatment, and aerosol therapy.

Professor Stephen Montefort

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for Eastern Mediterranean
• Principal Investigator for Malta

Professor Stephen Montefort is a consultant respiratory physician at St. Luke's Hospital, Malta and a lecturer in Medicine and Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Malta.

Professor Montefort's research interests include respiratory epidemiology and asthma pathophysiology.

Dr Joseph A. Odhiambo

Roles:

• ISAAC Steering Committee
• Regional Coordinator for English-speaking Africa

Dr Jayant Shah

Roles:

• Regional Coordinator for Indian Sub-continent
• National Coordinator for India