Governance & Team

Gelise McCullough joined the Medicines Patent Pool in January 2020 as Head of Communications. Gelise is a public health professional with 20 years of experience. She has come from Unitaid where she worked for nearly 12 years in programme management and communication on range of innovative grants including intellectual property. She is dedicated to access to treatment and has worked with a wide range of partners, international, government and civil society, to ensure quality, adapted and affordable medicines and diagnostics are made available to those who need it most. She enjoys fostering partnerships and engaging stakeholders towards a common goal. Gelise has worked in communication roles with a number of International Organisations: United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF. Gelise holds a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she specialised in health promotion. Her first degree was in Communications.

Shania Khan joined Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) as Communications Manager focussing on the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub, to develop and implement the company’s marketing plan in line with the company objectives. She is responsible for the design and delivery of the ‘hub’ overall media and marketing strategy. Her remit is to develop an online presence, promote brand awareness, manage events and field trips as well as build and maintain a client base.

Prior to her work at MPP she was Journals Manager at Frontiers Media and Head of Marketing at Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation. Her background includes scientific marketing for the Royal Society and global marketing for the Arab British Chamber of Commerce in London.

At MPP, she is thrilled to apply and grow her marketing expertise, deepen her knowledge of the non-profit sector and, overall, support the success of the organisation’s mission and goals.

Valentina Ndibalema joined our Communications Team in May 2022 as a  Digital Communications Officer. Within her current role, she is responsible for maintaining MPP’s online presence, with a specific attention to social media channels, website management, working with consultants and agencies for the design of visuals for online and print and the procurement of marketing materials. Overall, she supports with the smooth running of the communications’ department.

As a Communications professional, she brings forth skills and years of experience from her communications and digital media background in supporting the implementation of Corporate Communications strategies and the business communications needs for organizations and companies. Valentina holds a Bachelor of Arts degrees in Broadcast Journalism and African Studies from Pennsylvania State University. She has worked in the private sector and for international organisations in the USA, Switzerland, Tanzania and China

Sophie Thievenaz is our Senior Communications Manager since October 2016, managing online communications, visual identity and branding, as well as events and publications. She also works closely with the Head of Communications to implement our communications strategy. Sophie acted as Head of Communications a.i. from June-December 2019. Sophie comes with a wealth of communications and advocacy experience, having served as Communications Officer for the Sanitation and Water for All Global Partnership, hosted by UNICEF in Geneva. Here, Sophie managed the organisation’s web and social media presence, publications and events. She also worked as the Communications and Campaign Coordinator for Yfoundations, a non-profit organisation working to address youth homelessness in Sydney, Australia, and for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Annecy, France. Sophie has a master’s degree in political science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence and a postgraduate diploma in corporate social responsibility from the London Metropolitan Business School, UK.

Chan Park is the Medicines Patent Pool’s General Counsel. He has been with MPP since it was established in 2010, overseeing all legal matters of the organisation. As General Counsel, Chan forms a vital part of our negotiation team, and has successfully negotiated and drafted our licensing agreements. Before joining MPP, Chan was a member of the team at Unitaid that conceptualised and established our organisation. An attorney by training, Chan practised IP law with US firm, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, and served as Senior Technical and Policy Advisor for the Lawyers Collective HIV/AIDS unit in India. He has consulted for a number of international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization and Unitaid, on a range of issues related to IP and access to medicines. Chan received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, USA and his Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law, USA.

Kelvin Nguyen joined the Medicines Patent Pool in May 2022 as Associate Counsel, where he works with the legal team on negotiating and drafting licence agreements, as well as on a variety of matters relating to MPP governance. He is an Australian-trained intellectual property lawyer with a scientific background in pharmacology and physiology.  Prior to joining MPP, Kelvin worked as an Associate at an Australian law firm, MinterEllison, focusing on patent law and health technologies.  He has also worked as a Legal Advisor at an Australian government health practitioner regulation agency.  He has received a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center, a Graduate Diploma in Laws from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Health Sciences from the University of Adelaide.

Nataliya Omelchuk joined the Medicines Patent Pool in September 2020 within the legal team as Associate Counsel, to work on negotiations and drafting of licensing agreements, as well as on a variety of MPP legal matters. Nataliya brings to MPP as a lawyer an extensive industry and non-for profit experience. As of lately, she was contributing to access to safe and affordable medicines for neglected diseases at Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in Geneva. Nataliya has received a law degree from the National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine, a Master degree from University of Toulouse, France and an LL.M in International Arbitration Law from the University of Stockholm, Sweden.

Razan Walch joined the Medicines Patent Pool in September 2022 as Paralegal Officer, where she manages contracts and assist in the implementation of compliance processes, as well as assist on a variety of MPP legal matters.

Razan brings over 10 years of professional experience in corporate law, legal research and contracts management. She has worked in multinational companies in sectors such as healthcare services, supply of industrial gases, and water management technologies.

Razan holds a degree in paralegal studies from the University of Sharjah in UAE and Bachelor of Arts from Yarmouk University in Jordan.

Esteban Burrone is our Head of Policy, Strategy and Market Access. Esteban has been with us since we were established, in 2010, and oversees our strategy development and our partnerships with a wide range of external organisations. These include governments, intergovernmental organisations, public health organizations, civil society and community-based organisations. He is part of our senior management team and has overall responsibility for our Patents and Licences Databases (MedsPaL and VaxPaL). Esteban has more than 15 years of experience working in the field of innovation, IP rights and access to medicines. Esteban holds a Master of Science in Development Studies from the London School of Economics, a Master in Business Administration from the International University in Geneva and a Master in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Joshua Anandaraj joined the Medicines Patent Pool’s Policy and Advocacy team in October 2022 as Patent Information Manager. He is responsible for maintaining MPP’s patents and licenses databases, performing chemical structure and biological sequence searches and analyses to inform decision-makers within MPP, and monitoring health technologies as per MPP’s mandate.

He has 15 years of experience working as a patent analyst and IP Manager in various corporations in Europe and India. Prior to joining MPP he worked for IP Australia as the Assistant Director of the Patent Analytics Hub. Joshua holds a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology and a master’s in business administration.

Tiwadayo Braimoh joined the Medicines Patent Pool in February 2022 as Policy and Advocacy Manager after about 20 years of work across sectors and areas including the pharmaceutical industry, public health, and health policy. He started off his career playing different roles progressively in sales, marketing, and business development in the pharmaceutical industry, then joined Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) where he worked on access programs and with governments in Africa on various health policy issues. Just before joining MPP, he was Senior Technical Advisor for Health Financing at the Ministry of Health, Rwanda, where he worked closely with high level stakeholders across sectors on health systems strengthening and on an African Union’s continental health financing initiative. At MPP, he leads on the policy aspects of COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness, and on Africa. Tiwadayo holds an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing from London School of Economics and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines and an MBA from the University of Lagos. He is also a Pharmacist and Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists.

Amina Larbi joined the Medicines Patent Pool in September 2018 as Patent Information Manager. Part of the Policy and Advocacy team, she manages the patent and information team responsible of maintaining and developing MPP’s Patents and Licences Databases and performing patent searches and analyses. Amina is a registered Swiss and European Patent Attorney with a broad experience as a patent specialist in the private sector, particularly in the field of biopharmaceuticals. Her experience extends from prior-art searching, performing patentability studies, patent drafting and prosecution, handling of patent and trademark portfolios to the management of intellectual property databases and systems. Before joining the MPP, Amina worked for five years for two companies active in the field of mechanics (medical devices, optics, security printing) after having worked for 14 years in the Intellectual of Property Department of the pharmaceutical company Merck-Serono S.A, based in Geneva. Amina holds a master’s degree in biology from the University of Geneva.

Marie Levy joined the Medicines Patent Pool in October 2022 as Policy and Advocacy Officer. She has mostly been working on external relations, advocacy, and partnership management for international organisations, both at HQ and field level. Before joining MPP Marie worked at Unitaid, the European Commission and the French national institute for health and medical research (INSERM).

She holds master’s degrees in international humanitarian law and political sciences and has a particular interest in access to health and social justice.

Mila Maistat joined the Medicines Patent Pool in May 2017 as Policy and Advocacy Manager, bringing more than 15 years of policy and advocacy experience in HIV/AIDS and viral hepatitis to the organisation. She was most recently Senior Program Advisor with the Alliance for Public Health (International HIV/AIDS Alliance) where she led policy and policy activities to support the scale-up of hepatitis C diagnostics and treatment in Ukraine and other countries. Mila is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategy and Technical Advisory Group on viral hepatitis and the WHO guidelines’ development and peer-review groups as well as a member of the Lancet Commission on Accelerating the Elimination of Viral hepatitis. She also chaired the Hepatitis C Group for Unitaid’s non-governmental organisation (NGO) delegation and continues to serve as a member of the HIV in Europe Steering Committee. Mila was recognised by the Economist as one of the leading voices for advocacy to increase access to affordable diagnostics and treatment of viral hepatitis. Mila holds a master’s degree in English and German from Gogol State University and a master’s degree in Social Sciences and Technologies (Sociology, Public Relations) from the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. She speaks Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.

Sébastien Morin joined the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in May 2019 as Policy and Advocacy Manager, bringing more than six years of policy and advocacy experience in HIV and viral hepatitis to the organisation. He was since 2013 a Research Officer in the HIV Programmes and Advocacy Department of the International AIDS Society (IAS), where he led the work of the Industry Liaison Forum on paediatric HIV and regulatory affairs, as well as the efforts of the HIV Co-Infections and Co-Morbidities initiative in the areas of viral hepatitis (mostly hepatitis C) and tuberculosis.

Sébastien is author of several peer-reviewed and other publications on paediatric drug formulations, hepatitis C, people who inject drugs, regulatory affairs and treatment access, in addition to the scientific articles originating from his basic research work on antibiotic resistance and HIV infection.

Sébastien holds a PhD in Biochemistry from Laval University (Québec, Canada) and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Basel (Basel, Switzerland); he speaks French, English and Spanish.

At MPP, Sébastien’s work in the policy space covers various disease areas (including HIV and TB) and geographies (with a focus on the Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean regions). Sébastien is also involved in the paediatric space, contributing to the Global Accelerator for Paediatric Formulations (GAP-f).

Giulia joined the Medicines Patent Pool in June 2020 as Scientific Manager for non-communicable diseases (NCDs). She is part of the Policy and Advocacy team and she is in charge of supporting the selection of treatment candidates for the expansion of the in-licensing activities in the WHO Essential Medicine List. She spent the first seven years of her career working in the pharmaceutical industry following medical affairs and drug development activities. In the past five years, she worked at a non-governmental organisation focused on health system strengthening in sub-saharan Africa, in charge of various public health projects on the field. She is bringing to MPP her knowledge of profit, not-for-profit and academic sectors both in developed and developing countries and her experience of health systems in low resource settings in order to support the effort of selecting the right candidates for in-licensing.
Giulia holds a master degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technologies, a PhD in Epidemiology and is a registered Pharmacist.

Zongyuan Tang joined the Medicines Patent Pool in December 2021 as Patent Information Officer. A member of the Policy and Advocacy team, she supports the Patent Information Manager, and is responsible for medicines, vaccines, patents data entry and management, collecting information on pharmaceutical test data exclusivity, preparing listings of patents and patents applications and contributing to the further development of MedsPal and VaxPal databases. Prior to joining MPP, Zongyuan worked for the World Intellectual Property Organization for two years and a half in the Madrid Information System Division, Madrid Registry, Brands and Designs Sector, based in Geneva. Zongyuan holds a master’s degree in Business Administration and a double bachelors’ degree in Business Administration and Management from the Webster University of Geneva.

Jane Caldwell joined MPP in August 2022 in the new role of Head of Operations and Resources, overseeing finance, human resources, IT and resource mobilisation. She brings substantial experience of organisation effectiveness, partnerships and income generation working in the non-profit sector for 13 years most recently as a CEO. Previously, Jane worked as a film producer making human rights documentaries and feature films in Europe, Asia and America.  She has supported the start-up of three businesses in different sectors including the Greentech industry and was a founding member of the Women’s Equality Party where she raised the funds to launch this new political party in the UK.   Jane has a post-graduate qualification in Health Economics and Policy from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Victoria holds a degree in foreign languages (French and English) and in psychology. She brings more than 20 years of experience in project management, event organisation and as assistant. Victoria has a strong experience in the public health sector having worked for Doctors without borders, the AIDS foundation East-West. Her work experience includes also work at the Embassy of France to Ukraine and Twinning project on the Early intervention system for children with disabilities realised with Expertise France and Ministry of Social Affairs.

Gerry Fayolle joined the Medicines Patent Pool in June 2022 as Finance and Administration Officer. Gerry works with Muriel Lacombe for the finance department. As an accountant he’s mainly in charge of supplier invoices, professional expenditures and payment. Gerry hold the Baccalaureate in finance and accountancy, the technician brevet in management and accountancy and a license in finance and administration, moreover brings almost 4 years as a Junior Accountant for several companies, handling customers and suppliers bookkeeping.

Ruth Foley joined MPP as Monitoring and Evaluation Manager in June 2021. She brings with her 19 years of experience in the NGO sector, with specific expertise in monitoring, evaluation and strategy development as well as in advocacy on human rights, gender equality and HIV. Previous employers include the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). Ruth holds a Master in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Oriental Studies from the University of Cambridge.

Muriel Lacombe joined the Medicines Patent Pool as Finance and Administration Manager in September 2018. Muriel works with the CFO and Head of Human resources, looking after the overall budget of the organisation and ensuring compliance with internal control systems. Muriel brings almost 10 years of experience in accounting, reporting and project management having served as Senior Financial Accountant for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition and several companies in the private sector, in charge of bookkeeping, audits and reporting. Muriel holds a diploma of business administration from the Business School Nicolas-Bouvier as well as a master’s degree in management and business studies from the University of Geneva.

Gosha Stehle joined MPP in September 2022 as HR Manager. Before joining MPP she worked in nonprofit organizations in Geneva performing various business support functions including, human resources, finance and administration, governance, and projects support. Gosha holds master`s degree in American studies and certification in human resources management from the HRSE Swiss Exams. Originally from Poland, she lived and worked in the United Kingdom before relocating to Geneva.

Agnese joined the Medicines Patent Pool as Grants and Operations Manager in November 2020. She supports the Head of Strategy, Operations and Resource Mobilisation in ensuring the smooth running of the day-to-day operations of the organisation and the efficient management of grants and donor relations. Agnese is genuinely committed to work for organisations that ensure access to equal opportunities for all. She has worked in the non-profit sector for nearly 8 years as Programme Finance Associate, Afghanistan for the International Development Law Organization, as Project Officer, Somalia for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and most recently as Officer, Operational efficiency at the Global Fund. She holds a Master of Science degree in International Management from King’s College, London and a Bachelor of Arts from John Cabot University in Rome.

Ike James joined MPP in March 2022 as Head of Technology Transfer within the newly created Technology Transfer Unit. He is part of our Senior Management Team and has the overall responsibility for overseeing MPPs work in technology transfer, local production in low- and middle-income countries and its role in the ACT-A/COVAX Manufacturing Workforce. Ike has held technical leadership positions at Biovac, Aspen Pharmacare, and Lonza prior to starting at MPP, culminating in approximately 16 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He has focused on the product development, technology transfer, and process validation of small molecules and biological products, together with the operationalisation of new state of the art manufacturing facilities, ensuring the successful commercial launch thereof and compliance to quality and regulatory requirements. Ike holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Stellenbosch University, South Africa.

Landry Bertaux joined the Medicines Patent Pool in February 2022 as Biologic Health Products Expert within the Technology Transfer Unit. Before joining MPP, Landry worked for 17 years at Sanofi Pasteur in Formulation and Drug Substance Process Development before leading the CMC activities (Manufacturing, Testing and associated Regulatory and Quality) for New Vaccines in Development. Landry holds a Master of Science in Biotechnology from the European High School of Biotechnology (Germany, Switzerland, France) and a Master’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the Strasbourg University (France).

Antonio Grilo joined MPP in January 2023 as mRNA Technology Transfer Expert. Before joining MPP, Antonio worked for 3 years as a Process Expert at Lonza focusing on technology transfer, manufacturing process support, validation and commercial supply of monoclonal antibodies and mRNA vaccines. He holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London and an MSc. in Bioprocess Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Monica Moschioni joined MPP in March 2022 as Project Manager within the newly created Technology Transfer Unit. Before joining MPP, Monica worked for six years at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on two multi-country MDR-TB Phase III clinical trials sponsored by MSF (TB-PRACTECAL and endTB) as Country Coordinator and Trial Manager. Before MSF, Monica worked for 15 years at Novartis Vaccines and GSK Vaccines in the Research and Development Department leading vaccine coverage evaluation projects in high -, low- and middle-income countriesfor vaccines in early or late development phase. Monica holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from Bologna University (Italy), a Master in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK) and a Master of Science in Pharmacy from the University of Padova (Italy).