Lilia Burunciuc currently serves as the World Bank’s Country Director for the Caribbean, where she leads the Bank’s engagement with countries to address their key development challenges and foster sustainable growth.  

Lilia’s career at the World Bank spans several senior roles, including Director for Central Asia, Manager in Operations Policy and Country Services, and Country Manager for Macedonia. She also served as Country Program Coordinator for Southern Africa and Central Asia and as Senior Country Officer for Ukraine and Belarus. 

Before joining the World Bank in 1996, Lilia held the position of Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Moldova, where she contributed to the country’s financial and economic stability.  

Lilia holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from George Washington University and a Master’s level degree in Economics, Management, and Planning from the Technical University of Moldova.  

Emre Özaltın has over 20 years of experience in Global Development. His current work
focuses on program implementation in FCV settings; designing multisectoral programs to
build human capital; and donor coordination for sustainable development financing.

Emre leads country strategies in Human Development, works closely with country teams in
the development and supervision of Human Development programs, and is responsible for
multi-sectoral synergies and ensuring technical quality across the World Bank portfolio. He
leads the policy dialogue in Human Development, supporting client countries to develop solutions to key development challenges.

Emre holds a Doctorate in Health Economics from Harvard University and a Masters in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill University.

Dr. Edit Velenyi has over 20 years of experience in global development, specializing in health economics and policy. She is a Senior Economist at the World Bank, focusing on the Latin America and Caribbean Region, where she supports client countries in advancing Universal Health Coverage and strengthening health system resilience. Her work encompasses primary healthcare reform, hospital sector modernization, and sustainable healthcare financing.

Throughout her career at the World Bank, Edit has held roles within the Health Global Practice and the Development Economics Research Group, combining operational expertise with policy research. Her work has spanned multiple regions, including Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, addressing complex development challenges across diverse settings.

Edit holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of York, England; an MA from the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, DC; and an MA from the Budapest Business School, Hungary. 

Dr. Shana Cyr-Philbert is currently the Senior Medical Officer for Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, a post that she has held from October 2018. During this time, she has coordinated the implementation of various NCD related surveys such as the STEPs Behavioural risk factor survey, Global school Health Survey and the SALT Survey. She has also been actively involved in the development and implementation NCD related policies, programmes and projects in collaboration with organizations such as the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). She is the co-chair of the National NCD Commission, the chair of the Caribbean Public Health Law Forum plenary, the coordinator of the St Lucia Moves Initiative and a member of the executive committee for the World Bank PBF project. 

Prior to assuming her current role, she worked in primary care clinics where she focused heavily on primary and secondary prevention of diseases such as Diabetes and Hypertension. In addition to her medical degree, which she received from Cuba in 2005, she holds a Master’s degree in Diabetes Management & Research from Cardiff University and a Master’s in Public Health, MPH, from the University of Sheffield.

Dr. Connell is a distinguished academic, Internist, Hypertension Specialist, and public health policy advocate with extensive experience in clinical medicine and medical education. He currently serves as a Senior Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, Cave Hill Campus, University of the West Indies (UWI), a position equivalent to Associate Professor. Dr. Connell also holds the role of Deputy Dean for Recruitment and Research within the faculty.

Dr. Connell completed his medical training at UWI’s St. Augustine and Cave Hill Campuses, earning his MBBS in 2000 and DM in Internal Medicine in 2006. In recognition of his academic excellence, he was awarded the prestigious Barbados National Development Scholarship in 2007 and later earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from King’s College London.

Since joining UWI in 2011 as a Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacology, Dr. Connell has taken on various leadership roles, including serving as Deputy Dean for Phase 1 in 2014. In addition to his academic duties, he is a Consultant Physician at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and leads the hospital’s Resistant Hypertension Clinic, contributing to advancements in the management of complex hypertension cases.

Dr. Heather Armstrong leads the Chronic Disease and Injuries Department within the Surveillance, Disease Prevention, and Control Division at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA). With over two decades of experience, she is dedicated to advancing non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention and control across the Caribbean region.

Heather's professional focus centers on addressing the social determinants of health, fostering a "health in all policies" approach, and driving regional health initiatives. She advocates for empowering individuals, communities, and populations to make healthier choices, emphasizing the importance of creating environments that support well-being. Her collaborative work with community organizations reflects her unwavering commitment to community health and health equity.

Before joining CARPHA, Heather served as a Senior Public Health Officer with the Ministry of Health in Barbados, where she contributed to planning, implementing, and developing public health policies and programs. Her role as a Medical Officer of Health involved overseeing public health and primary care services for a defined geographical population, further enriching her expertise in healthcare delivery and administration.

In addition to her professional roles, Heather is an Associate Lecturer in Public Health at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. For several years, she has taught health promotion and health education in the Master of Public Health program, nurturing the next generation of public health professionals.