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Management Team

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The Union's Management Team, headed up by the Executive Director, comprises the Heads of Managed Units, Scientific Departments and Country Offices, as well as a core team of Central Services.

Prof Guy Marks

Prof Guy Marks

subtitle: President and Interim Executive Director

Category: Tile

Prof Guy Marks is a respiratory and public health physician and epidemiologist. He is President and interim Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He also serves on the Board of the NCD Alliance.

He has led the Centre for Air pollution, energy and health Research (CAR, an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence) since 2012. His main research interests are in chronic respiratory disease (asthma and COPD), tuberculosis control and the adverse health effects of exposure to air pollution.

In 2022, Guy was recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia, for distinguished service to respiratory medicine and research, and to tertiary education.

Dr Kobto Ghislain Koura

Dr Kobto Ghislain Koura

subtitle: Director, Department of Tuberculosis

Category: Tile

Kobto is a Medical Doctor Public Health Specialist. Since joining The Union in 2013, he has addressed the challenges of tuberculosis (TB) by supporting National Tuberculosis Programmes. This involves planning, designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating strategies and policies for the prevention, detection and management of drug-susceptible TB, multidrug resistant TB in adults and children. Dr Koura’s other work includes operational research projects, participating in Union training courses and providing technical assistance.

Dr Ajay Kumar

subtitle: Director, Department of Research

Category: Tile

Dr Ajay Kumar is a seasoned Public Health Practitioner with over 15 years of experience in low- and middle-income settings. He has worked for WHO-India as a consultant for providing technical assistance to the Government of India’s National Tuberculosis Programme, particularly in leading TB-HIV co-ordination activities. He is an author/co-author of over 170 publications, with many contributing to a change in policy/practice and has facilitated over 75 national and international courses.

Lara Garrido

Lara Garrido

subtitle: Director, Training & Education

Category: Tile

Lara has been part of the Training and Education Department since 2016, leading the design, development and delivery of face-to-face and online trainings. Prior to joining The Union, Lara advocated for better health policies in Europe and provided public relations advice to multinational organisations in South Africa.

Sanhita Sinha

subtitle: Chief Human Resources Officer

Category: Tile

Sanhita has been with The Union since 2020.

Sanhita has nearly 22 years of experience working in the field of human resources with reputable corporates and international NGOs. In her current role, Sanhita is responsible for leading The Union's overall human resources strategy and management.

She is a postgraduate in comparative literature and human resources.

David Jackson

David Jackson

subtitle: Director, Conferences

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David Jackson has an extensive background in international events management and communications for the third sector and non-profit bodies, including environmental, agricultural and arts organisations. He brings to The Union a wealth of experience and a collaborative leadership style that has ensured the successful creation and management of a broad range of live flagship events.

Hugh Blackbourn

Hugh Blackbourn

subtitle: Director, Publications

Category: Tile

With more than 20 years of experience in publishing, Hugh has a strong track record in assisting publishers to improve the performance of their journals, including their scientific impact, financial performance, author services and sponsorship opportunities. He has worked as the Publisher for Nature Journals and Nature Reviews Journals; the Head of Publishing for the Wellcome Trust; and advised a range of publishers (including Oxford University Press, Company of Biologists and the British Medical Journal) on a broad array of online and print initiatives.

Tyler Dimich

Tyler Dimich

subtitle: Head of Membership

Category: Tile

Tyler has an extensive background in membership management, customer service and project development.

Throughout his career, he has worked to improve the member experience, and he brings a wealth of not-for-profit and charity management knowledge to The Union.

For any membership, scientific section, sub section or working group related queries, please email membership@theunion.org.

Alex Metcalfe

Alex Metcalfe

subtitle: Head of Communications

Category: Tile

Alex is a communications professional with public and private sector experience.

He worked in the UK National Health Service for several years - from hospitals to the national research body - before moving to healthcare communications agencies. Alex has led national and global healthcare awareness campaigns.

Prior to joining The Union, he was the Research Communications Manager at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, London. Alex has a masters in journalism (web).

John Paul Dongo

John Paul Dongo

subtitle: Director, The Union Uganda Office

Category: Tile

John Paul Dongo has worked with The Union since 2011, most recently he supported The Union's DETECT Child TB Project which showed that strengthening child TB services in Uganda was associated with increased case finding and improved treatment outcomes. He is also The Union's lead for the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Child and Adolescent TB Centre of Excellence.

The Union Uganda Office provides technical assistance to the National TB and Leprosy Programme in Uganda to strengthen interventions for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis.

Kelland Stevenson

subtitle: Director, The Union Myanmar Office

Category: Tile

For over 35 years Kelland have been working as an international development and humanitarian professional in Africa and Asia. He brings extensive experience from working on health, education and environmental programs during his career.

In addition, he has over a decade of working experience in Myanmar. Kelland also has a wealth of experience in team-building, strategic thinking, and program management. He also holds a Master’s in Land Use Planning.

Dr Riitta Dlodlo

Dr Riitta Dlodlo

subtitle: Senior Advisor

Category: Tile

Dr Riitta Dlodlo, MD, MPH, has worked in both clinical and programmatic TB, TB-HIV and management of health services and projects for over 30 years in Zimbabwe and other sub-Saharan African countries. Having joined The Union in 2003, she has served as TB-HIV programme coordinator and Director of the Department of TB and HIV from 2015 to mid-2019, when she was appointed Senior Advisor.

Prof Anthony Harries

subtitle: Senior Advisor, Research

Category: Tile

Prof Anthony D Harries spent over 20 years in sub-Saharan Africa, working on TB, HIV/AIDS and TB-HIV. Author of hundreds of published papers, in 2008, he joined The Union to launch the Department of Research.