International Advisory Board Members
Professor Harris Pastides
President Emeritus, University of South Carolina, USA
Former Member of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees
Past Chair, US Fulbright Advisory Council
Professor Arnon Afek
Associate Director General, Sheba Medical Center, Israel
Acting Director of Sheba General Hospital, Israel
Mr Stavros Sougioultzis
Chief Operating Officer, MITERA Hospital, Athens, Greece
Professor Paul Finucane
Foundation Head of University of Limerick Medical School, Ireland
Former Director for Medical Education at the Medical Council of Ireland
Professor Sam Leinster
Emeritus Professor of Medical Education, University of East Anglia, UK
Senior Adviser to the World Federation for Medical Education
Professor Sam Leinster
Following surgical training in the Royal Air Force, Professor Leinster began his academic career in the Department of Surgery at the Welsh National School of Medicine where he developed his clinical and research interests in breast disease, malignant melanoma and soft tissue sarcoma. He moved to Liverpool in 1982 as Senior Lecturer in Surgery where he developed the Breast Unit as a multidisciplinary unit. Dr Leinster eventually became Professor of Surgery. At Liverpool, he became involved in curriculum development and led the introduction of a new Problem Based Learning (PBL) curriculum for the undergraduate medical degree. He moved to the University of East Anglia (UEA) in 2001 as Inaugural Dean of the new medical school where he developed a brand new highly original undergraduate medical programme. He is now retired and is Emeritus Professor of Medical Education at UEA.
Professor Leinster was on the Executive Committee of the Association for the Study of Medical Education (1992-2004) and Chairman (1998-2004). He has been a General Medical Council Associate since 1996 serving on the PLA Board (2000-2004); the PLAB Part 2 Panel (2000-2011); Tomorrow’s Doctors Review Group (2008-2009); Quality Assurance Team Leader (2004-2016); and Quality Scrutiny Group (2011-2016). He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Examinations and Training Committees and a member of the Executive Committee of the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (2014-2016).
Research Interests: Curriculum Evaluation, Assessment methods in health care education, Professionalism in health care, Outcomes in breast disease
Professor Arnon Afek
Professor Afek received his medical training at the Hebrew University and Hadassah School of Medicine (1981-1987), residency in Anatomical Pathology at the Sheba Medical Center and fellowship in Medical Administration at the Sheba Medical Center and at the Ministry of Health. He completed a Master degree in Health Administration at Ben-Gurion University (2000-2002). He is a Col. (res) and a member of the IDF-MC Helsinki (IRB) Committee and has previously served as the Head of Occupational Medicine and Medical Classification Branch and as the Chairman of the Department of Medical Administration at the IDF Medical Corps (2004-2007). He was the Director of Medical Affairs, Head of the Emergency Services of the Israeli Ministry of Health (2012-2014) and the Deputy Director of Sheba General Hospital (2007-2012). Since 2011, Professor Afek serves as the Director of the NY State/American MD Program and Professor of Public Health at the Sackler School of Medicine and the Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University. In 2015, Professor Afek was appointed as a member of the Bureau of Governors of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Committee, taking a role in designing health policy. He is the Founding Chairman of the National Council on Pathology and Forensic Medicine in Israel. Professor Afek led the reforms for the Ministry of Health in Psychiatric Care, the regulation of Cannabis for Medical use and Public transparency in the publishing the outcomes of Hospitals quality indicators. He is now the Associate Director General, the Acting Director of Sheba General Hospital and the Chairman of the Department of Medical Administration at the Sheba Medical Center after completing his tenure as the Director General (DG) and the Associate Medical DG of the Israeli Ministry of Health (2014-2017).
Research interests: Atherosclerosis, Body Mass Index, Diabetes, Cancer, Autoimmunity.
Professor Paul Finucane
Professor Finucane graduated with a medical degree from the University College Cork, Ireland in 1978. Following two years as a volunteer doctor in the Yemen Arab Republic, he trained in Geriatric Medicine and in Medical Education at the University of Wales, Cardiff. He then held professorial appointments in Australia, first at the University of Newcastle and then at Flinders University of South Australia where he was Professor or Rehabilitation & Aged Care and Assistant Dean. Returning to Ireland in 2001, he served as Director of Education at the Irish Medical Council where he spearheaded the introduction of a national Professional Competence scheme. For ten years from 2004, he led the establishment of a new graduate-entry medical school at the University of Limerick and became the Foundation Head of School in 2007. He returned to Australia in 2016 to establish an Aged Care service in the Riverina region of New South Wales. He currently holds professorial appointments with the University of New South Wales, Notre Dame University (Australia) and the University of Limerick. He has published over 150 scientific papers and has authored and contributed to several texts. He has a strong interest in the visual and literary arts and has authored three art-related texts.
Research interests: Geriatric Medicine; Disability and Rehabilitation; Curriculum Development; Student Assessment; Professional Development & Assessment; Humanities in Medical Education.
Professor Harris Pastides
Harris Pastides (born 1954) is a Greek-American academic, public health researcher, and university leader who served as the 28th president of the University of South Carolina from 2008 to 2019, and again in an interim capacity from 2021 to 2022. A native of Queens, New York, he earned his B.S. in Biology from the University at Albany (SUNY) before completing multiple graduate degrees at Yale University, including a Master of Public Health, an M.Phil., and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology. Prior to joining USC, he was a professor and chair of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, later serving as USC’s vice president for research and health sciences before becoming president. Widely recognized for his contributions to higher education and public health, Pastides has received numerous honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor (2017), the South Carolina Urban League Whitney M. Young Award (2017), the Fulbright Global Changemaker Award, and an honorary Doctor of Science (Medicine) from the University of Nicosia in 2021. He has also served on prominent boards such as the Institute of International Education and the Fulbright Council for the International Exchange of Scholars, continuing his commitment to global learning, public service, and academic excellence.
Mr Stavros Sougioultzis
Stavros Sougioultzis is a senior healthcare executive who serves as Chief Operating Officer of MITERA Hospital in Athens, Greece, part of the Hellenic Healthcare Group. He also sits on the Board of Directors of MITERA S.A. and plays a leading role in the management and operations of one of Greece’s foremost private hospitals, specialising in maternity, obstetrics and gynaecology, and paediatrics. In addition, Mr Sougioultzis is Treasurer of HEAL Academy, the Group’s postgraduate training and scientific development arm, where he contributes to programmes for doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. Under his operational leadership, MITERA has further strengthened its commitment to excellence in patient care, clinical efficiency and organisational performance.
Professor Madalena Patricio
Former Director, Department of Medical Education, University of Lisbon, Portugal
Former President, International Association of Medical Education
Adviser, World Federation for Medical Education
Professor Peter V. Scoles
Exec. Director for International Programmes, National Board of Medical Examiners, USA
Member of Spine Team, Shriners Children’s, Philadelphia
Vice Dean for Academic Programme Development, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia
Adviser, World Federation for Medical Education
Ms Theanne Walters
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Australian Medical Council, ACT, Australia
Dr Foivos Koulaidis
UNIC Medical School MD Alumnus, Class of 2020
Mr Loizos Pericleous
Former Secretary of the Board of Thalassaemia International Federation
Former President of the Board of Cyprus Thalassaemia Association
Former Member of the Board of Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics
Professor Madalena Patricio
Professor Patrício is the Coordinator of the DEM_Medical Education Programme for Teachers’ Training at the FMUL. She served as President of AMEE (2006 –2013) and continues to be a member of the Executive Committee to this day. She is member of the UNESCO International Council of Education Department Chair in Bioethics and Chair of the BEME BOARD (Best Evidence in Medical Education). She is also a member of the Jury of the World Karolinska Institutet Prize on Research on Medical Education. Professor Patricio is the co-author/co-editor of five books having published more than 20 papers. She was invited as a Speaker or Course Coordinator in more than 220 conferences and scientific events.
In 2012 she received the ‘Honorary Membership of the Reial Académie de Medicina de Catalunya’, in 2013 the ‘AMEE Life Time Achievement’ and in 2018 the ‘Gusi International Peace Prize of the Gusi Foundation, Manila’.
Research interests: BEME (Best Evidence Medical and Health Professional Education, Evidence Based Teaching, Assessment of Clinical competences, OSCE, Humanization of Medicine, Social Responsibility of Medical Schools and Community Teaching.
September 2020
Dr Foivos Koulaidis
Dr Foivos Koulaidis graduated from the University of Nicosia (UNIC) Medical School in 2020 and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Patras.
He completed his rural service at the General Hospital of Laconia and the Gytheio Health Centre, and his doctoral research focuses on promoting public health and well-being through education.
He also currently serves as the Director of Education at GoLearn (Educational Organization, Center for Lifelong Learning).
His academic interests include clinical research and medical education, with contributions to national conferences and a multicentre study on adenoma detection in colonoscopy.
Ms Theanne Walters
Ms Theanne Walters is Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Medical Council, Australia’s accreditation and standards body for medical education and training. Since 1993, she has been responsible for the accreditation of medical programmes, and the AMC’s national and international collaborations on standards setting and accreditation. Ms Walters is a senior adviser for the World Federation for Medical Education, and a founder and member of Australia’s Health Professions Accreditation Collaborative Forum. In June 2019, Ms Walters was made a Member of the Order of Australia, for her services to medical education and accreditation.
Research interests: Medical School accreditation, Accreditation of Postgraduate Medical Education, Indigenous Health in medical education.
Professor Peter V. Scoles
Peter V. Scoles MD is Professor of Orthopaedics and Vice Dean for Academic Programme Development at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. He is Visiting Professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Minho, Portugal and Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Agostino Gemelli School of Medicine, Universitá del Sacro Cuore, Rome.
Dr Scoles was responsible for the design of the JeffMD undergraduate PBL curriculum and directs the University’s international medical education programmes. He leads new educational programme development at the medical college, and is responsible for co-curriculum pathways across the University.
Prior to joining the Jefferson faculty in 2013, he served as Senior Vice President and Executive Director for International Programmes at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). He was responsible for the design and oversight of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) programme and the NBME’s portfolio of domestic and international certification examinations.
Professor Scoles graduated from the Pennsylvania State University-Jefferson Medical College 5-year programme in Medicine, and holds the degrees of Master of Science from Ohio State University and Master of Arts from John Carroll University. Prior to joining the NBME, Dr Scoles was Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Assistant Dean at the Case-Western Reserve University College of Medicine He is Board certified in Orthopaedic Surgery, with sub-specialty expertise in spinal disorders and is an Attending Surgeon at the Philadelphia Shriners Hospital for Children.
Research interests: Operative and non-operative management of scoliosis and related spinal deformities.
Professor Trudie Roberts
Professor Roberts is responsible for scholarship in Medical Education at the University of Leeds. She graduated from Manchester with a degree in Medicine and a BSc in Anatomy. In 1995, following medical training in Manchester and research in Manchester and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, she was appointed Senior Lecturer in Transplant Immunology at the University of Manchester. In 2000 she was appointed Professor of Medical Education at the University of Leeds and in 2009 Director of the Leeds Institute of Medical Education. Professor Roberts was a Council Member of the General Medical Council (2009 – 2012), Chair of the Association for the Study of Medical Education (2009 – 2013) and President of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (2013-2019).
Professor Roberts is a member of the International Medical University (IMU) Professional Education Advisory Committee, Academic Council and Editorial Board member for their online publication IeJSME, member of the Medical Education, Training & Professional Development Board for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, and member of the Examination Board for the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. She works with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on both their Doctoral Fellowship Programme and Future Focussed Leadership Programme. She has worked with the Office for Students on the Main and Subject Panels for the pilots of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
Professor Roberts conducts Faculty development workshops nationally and internationally on assessment and professionalism, medical education, assessment, transitions, learning environment and interprofessional.
Research interests: Technology in Medical Education, Education, Assessment of Competence, Professionalism, Interprofessional Education, Transitions in training and Education, Personalised Adaptive Learning
Mr Loizos Pericleous
Mr Pericleous holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies from the University of West London, United Kingdom. Since 1989 he is the Executive Director and Manager of The Perick Pharmacal, a company which represents in Cyprus amongst other, the Swiss company SIGVARIS GROUP, the global market leader in the manufacture of medical compression garments.
Mr Pericleous has been a volunteer for many years, representing patient organisations in Cyprus and abroad. He travelled extensively in Middle East, Asia and North Africa advocating to and assisting national and regional health authorities in the areas of screening and prevention of thalassaemia, initiating medical treatments with the introduction of new medicines in their national formularies for thalassaemics. He made presentations on thalassaemia syndromes to patients and parents, to medical professionals, to the pharmaceutical industry and to healthcare authorities in affected countries. He participated and presented in local and international conferences on thalassaemia issues and was invited as the Key Note Speaker in international events. He also participated at European Medicines Agency Human Scientific Committees Working Party with Patients’ and Consumers’ Organisations (PCWP) as an Expert.