Speakers

Iván Darío Vélez, MD, MSc, PhD is a Professor at the School of Medicine of the Universidad de Antioquia, member of the WHO International Roster of Experts, NTD since 2010, and director of the PECET at Universidad de Antioquia-Colombia. Ivan is a world recognized expert in neglected tropical diseases, and he played a key role in establishing the World Mosquito Program’s (WMP) operations in Colombia in 2014. Since that time, WMP has provided more than three million people living in the Aburra Valley cities of Medellin, Bello, and Itagui with access to Wolbachia protection against dengue, chikungunya, and Zika, and it has expanded its program to Cali as well. Ivan received a medical degree from the Universidad de Antioquia, an MPH from the University of Montpellier, and a PhD in infectious diseases from the University of Granada.