Speakers

Jennifer Ayers became Executive Director of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in July 2006. She is responsible for day-to-day management of the organization, which represents more than 50,000 scientists and engineers involved in developing and improving medical and biological technologies.

From AIMBE’s Washington headquarters, Ayers interacts daily with the organization’s senior officers and 17-member Board of Directors, oversees all government affairs programs and manages internal communications and other relations with AIMBE members and outside organizations.

Prior to joining AIMBE, Ayers was Director of Products and Services for PLANET – the Professional Landcare Network – an association for the landscape and lawncare industry based in Herndon, VA. There, she managed day-to-day operations for all educational offerings, oversaw operations and strategic planning for the organization’s national events and supervised a variety of other initiatives.

Earlier, Ayers spent four years with the National Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors (NAADAC) in Alexandria, VA. As that organization’s Assistant Director, her duties included: supervising program and resource development in membership services, certification and affiliate relations; forming and developing new partnerships with external organizations and maintaining relationships with existing partners; managing membership marketing and oversight of marketing consultants; organizing national and regional training conferences and planning meetings; and securing funding for national and regional conferences. Ayers originally had joined NAADAC as Affiliate Relations Manager.

Her experience also includes serving as Marketing & Promotions Manager for the non profit leg of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, City Parks Foundation – managing activities related to youth tennis & junior golf – and working as a district executive for the Boy Scouts of America’s San Gabriel Valley Council in Pasadena, CA.

Ayers holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts in Policy Studies from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and English Textual Studies from Syracuse University. She is a member of Strathmore’s Who’s Who, the New York Academy of Sciences, American Chemistry Council, American Association for the Advancement of Science, was named a VIP Member of the Women’s Professional Network in 2009, and is a member of the Association for Association Executives and has served on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Engineering Societies as AIMBE’s representative. She has also participated on AIMBE’s behalf as a panelist for the women’s committee of IFMBE at their meeting, and is now a member of the IFMBE’s Women in Medical and Biological Engineering Committee.

Guruprasad Madhavan is a program officer at the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council—collectively known as the National Academies. He is the director for an Institute of Medicine study on prioritizing new preventive vaccines for development, and has worked on such National Academies’ publications as Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited: Now Approaching Category 5 and The Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence (Third Edition). Among other honors, Madhavan was selected as an outstanding young scientist to attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions in 2008, and one among 14 people as the “New Faces of Engineering” in the USA Today in 2009. He is an elected member to the administrative council of the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering, and a founding member of the Global Young Academy. An Indian national, Madhavan received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biomedical Engineering as well as an M.B.A. from the State University of New York. His doctoral research work was focused toward developing non-invasive neuromuscular stimulation approaches for improving circulation. He is a co-editor of Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Springer, 2008), Pathological Altruism (Oxford University Press, 2011), and Practicing Sustainability (Springer, 2012).

Melissa brings over 16 years of experience to her new position at Engineering World Health as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Melissa’s career started in the non-profit sector at the United Nations Fund for Population Activities in New York City. Since that time, she has held the following positions:
• Consultant with both the national and state offices of the American Lung Association;
• Program Coordinator for the North Carolina office of the American Cancer Society;
• Program Manager for a statewide public school based vision screening program for Prevent Blindness NC;
• Executive Director and Registered Lobbyist for several North Carolina based professional membership associations;
• President of Driving Force Relations where she provided nonprofit consultation and instruction services.

Her experiences in the nonprofit arena are varied and include Board development, program management, grant writing, government relations, fundraising and event planning. She is skilled in 5 languages and enjoys international travel.

Miriam C. Provost, Ph.D. is a senior consultant, specializing in medical devices, with Biologics Consulting Group, Inc. Prior to becoming a regulatory consultant in September 2007, she was a reviewer and manager in the FDA Office of Device Evaluation (ODE) for over 13 years. Her FDA career included positions as reviewer, branch chief, deputy division director, division director and finally, deputy director of ODE. She has broad FDA experience with a variety of device types across three different FDA divisions, including gastroenterology and renal devices, electrophysiology and cardiac monitoring devices, plastic and general surgery devices, orthopedic and restorative devices and neurological devices. As ODE deputy director, she was responsible for establishing review policies and procedures for the entire premarket program, including regulation of combination products. As a consultant, she assists small and large companies with all facets of medical device and combination product development, including strategy, submission preparation, FDA communication and advisory panel preparation. She holds a Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. in Chemical Engineering.

Smita Baruah is the Interim co-CEO at the Global Health Council, one of the largest alliances of organizations and individuals engaged with global health. As Interim co-CEO, she is currently responsible for overseeing the organization’s day to day management and developing and implementing a strategic vision for the organization during this transition period. She also serves as Director of Policy and Government Relations. In this capacity, she is responsible for identifying, monitoring and tracking policies on global health issues, developing positions via a coalition process, and advancing these positions to key stakeholders.. Baruah has more than a decade of experience in analyzing, developing and implementing policy strategies around international relief and development and health issues and in coalition building. Prior to joining the Global Health Council, Baruah led U.S. foreign assistance analysis and humanitarian assistance advocacy for InterAction, the largest coalition of U.S.-based development and humanitarian organizations. She also worked at RESULTS and Physicians for Human Rights. Baruah has written and presented on the U.S. budget and appropriations process and funding trends, on global HIV/AIDS and global health workforce issues.