Dr. C. James Hospedales – Climate and Health Advisor
A citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, with 30 years’ experience in public health in the Caribbean, Latin America, UK and USA. He was executive director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency, 2013 to 2019, coordinator of non-communicable diseases in PAHO/WHO, 2006 to 2012, and director of the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre 1998 to 2005. In 2020, he founded the EarthMedic and EarthNurse Foundation for Planetary Health to mobilise health professionals worldwide to address the climate crisis.
Vincent Atkins – Trade Policy Advisor
Vincent Atkins is Trade Policy and Technical Advisor to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Less Developed Countries (LDCs) , Office of Trade Negotiations, CARICOM Secretariat, in Barbados. He has been involved in the negotiations of international trade agreements since 2001, representing the Caribbean Community in several negotiating for a in the area of agricultural trade.
Mrs. Nicole Foster – Policy Advisor
Mrs. Foster is a former international trade diplomat with expertise in international law, international trade and international organisations. As Policy Advisor, Mrs. Foster will provide legal advice and comments on the different projects the HCC is engaged with, as appropriate, based on her expertise and professional commitments as Deputy Dean, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados.
Pierre Kevin Cooke Jnr. – Youth Voices Technical Advisor
Pierre K. Cooke (Jnr.) 19 years old is one of the leading youth and health advocates in Barbados and the Caribbean region. He is in his first year of law school and is working towards becoming a game changer in the field of international policy. He also interns with Attorney-at-Law, Faith Marshall- Harris, Barbados’ Children’s Rights Champion and a member of United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.
Dr. Christina Howitt – Physical Activity Advisor
Christina Howitt earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacology from the University of Bristol in 2003, and then her Master of Science degree in Control of Infectious Disease from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2005.
Dr. Rohan Maharaj – Alcohol Policy Advisor
Dr. Rohan Maharaj is a Senior Lecturer in Family Medicine and a Fellow of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians. He coordinates the postgraduate program in Family Medicine at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, St. Augustine, which has trained over 100 family physicians. His main research interest has been mental health and chronic disease in the Caribbean primary care population.
Mrs. Barbara McGaw – Tobacco Control Advisor
Mrs. McGaw has informally advised the HCC since its inception on all matters related to tobacco control. Since June 2016, Mrs. McGaw has been volunteering as tobacco adviser to the JCTC. Prior to that she was the Project Manager Tobacco Control for the Heart Foundation of Jamaica/Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control (JCTC) and successfully managed the tobacco control project grants since 2008.
Tara Lisa Persaud – Our Views Our Voices Technical Advisor
Tara Lisa is a health advocate and a international development professional who has spent the past 18 years working to improve wellbeing and increase opportunities for Caribbean people by supporting sustainable social and economic development.
Professor Alafia Samuels – Policy and Practice Advisor
T. Alafia Samuels MBBS, MPH, PhD, Honorary Professor, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica, is the Director of the George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, a unit of The UWI’s Caribbean Institute for Health Research, University of the West Indies. She is a medical doctor, trained at UWI Mona. She also holds a MPH (Masters in Public Health) and a PhD in Chronic Disease Epidemiology, both degrees awarded with honors from Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Carlene Radix – Social and Commercial Determinants Technical Advisor
Dr. Carlene Radix is a Public Health physician and Health Administration Leader in the Caribbean. She is a member of the St Lucia Diabetes and Hypertension Association and currently holds the position of Head of Health Unit in Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission. She completed Medical School at St George’s University in Grenada and completed a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatric Residency at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn and Overlook hospital in Summit New Jersey.
Dr. Beverley Barnett – Public Health Advisor
Dr. D. Beverley Barnett, a national of Jamaica, graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BS) undergraduate degree from the University of the West Indies (UWI) Faculty of Medical Sciences, Mona, Jamaica, in 1973, and obtained the Doctor of Medicine (DM) postgraduate degree in Internal Medicine in 1979 from the same Faculty.