Dr John Butler

Lecturer in Medial Psychology and Neuroscience (Ireland)

Following an academically excellent but psychologically gruelling first and second level education courtesy of the Christian Brothers, John Butler’s career has spanned 30 years of application and research in motivational and behavioural problems, based on studies in academic psychology, clinical theory and neurological research. His practice covers work on motivation, self-programming and resolution of conflicts obstructing the achievement of goals such as smoking cessation, weight control and addictions. He currently teaches at Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’s Medical School in London

Dr Shaun Larkin

CEO Designate, HCF (Australia)

Dr Shaun Larkin joined The Hospitals Contribution Fund of as a General Manager in 1997. He was recently selected to succeed Terry Smith in July 2010. Shaun was previously based in Singapore where he led the establishment of a chain of ambulatory medical centres throughout Asia, Africa and the CIS. He worked for nine years as an executive for private hospital operator Ramsay Health Care in Australia and the USA. He is a member of the Australia’s National Preventative Health Taskforce.

Gerard van Olphen

Chief Financial Officer, Eureko (Holland)

Following senior positions in insurance and finance at ABN Amro, Reaal Insurance, NIB Capital Gerard was in 2002 appointed CFO and member of the Executive Board of Eureko, Holland's (and Europe's) largest health insurer, before becoming responsible for Eureko's international strategy. In October 2008 he became vice-chairman of the Executive Board. In 2009 Gerard van Olphen became chairman of the Commission on Financial Affairs of the Dutch Association of Insurers (Verbond van Verzekeraars) and was appointed Chairman of the ECOFIN committee of CEA, the European insurance and reinsurance federation.

Kathy Lancaster

Chief Financial Officer, Kaiser Permanente (USA)

Kathy Lancaster oversees the controller’s office, treasury, finance operations, procurement and supply, financial shared services functions, strategic and financial planning, as well as the finance teams of the organization’s Sarbanes-Oxley implementation. She also provides financial leadership to Kaiser’s eight regions. She previously held senior leadership roles in underwriting and network management for Prudential’s western region, in addition to heading up the company’s health maintenance organization in Northern California.

Ed Giniat

Leader for Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals, KPMG (USA)

Ed has over 30 years of experience working with organizations across all sectors of the healthcare industry serving in an audit and advisory role to clients who include not-for-profit, tax-exempt healthcare providers, major managed care plans and pharmaceutical companies. He is a member of the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum and an industry council member of the National Quality Forum, and also leads KPMG’s Public Policy Business Initiatives for the Healthcare Industry.

Guillaume Sarkozy

General Manager, Malakoff Mederic (France)

Guillaume Sarkozy obtained an engineering degree from the Ecole SpŽciale des Travaux Publics. He began his career at the Ministry of the Interior’s Department of Civil Security, then worked as an engineer at IBM France. Since 1979, Guillaume Sarkozy has held General Manager positions in several organisations, before becoming a member of the Executive Committee, then in 2004 Vice President of MEDEF (the representative body for French companies). He has been since 2004 a member of the Upper Council for the Future of Health Insurance.

Professor Edzard Ernst (Germany)

Professor Ernst qualified as a physician in Munich. In 1989 he was appointed Professor in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) at Hannover Medical School and later Head of the PMR Department at the University of Vienna. He joined the University of Exeter Postgraduate Medical School in 1993, establishing the worldwide first Chair in Complementary Medicine. He has contributed extensively to medical literature. He is on the editorial board of 20 medical journals and is a regular reviewer for the Lancet, BMJ, JAMA and the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Eric Chaney, Chief Economist

Chief Economist, AXA Group (France)

A former professor of mathematics at the University of Strasbourg and associate professor at ENA, Eric Chaney took up his present position as Chief Economist AXA Group (France) in 2008. He was previously Chief Economist for Europe at Morgan Stanley, and responsible for global economic forecasts at the French Treasury. Since 1997 he has been a member of the French Economic Council of the Nation, which advises the Minister of Finance.

Professor Stuart Altman

Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy, Brandeis University (USA)

Stuart Altman has taught at Brown University and University of California at Berkeley. His research interests are primarily in the area of federal and state health policy. In 2006, Health Affairs listed him among the authors of the most read Health Affairs papers, and Modern Healthcare has listed him among the 30 people who have had the most influence on US healthcare in recent times. Dr Altman is a member of The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.