Dr. Nirmala Menon joined MetLife in May 2013 as its Head of Designated Markets and Health for Asia. In this role, Menon has management responsibility for MetLife’s operations in Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. As Head of Health for Asia, Menon also leads the development and execution of MetLife’s Asia health strategy across the entire Asia region.

Menon joined MetLife from ING Asia Pacific Ltd, where she served as the Head of South Asia based out of Hong Kong. In that capacity she had management responsibility for ING’s operations in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and India. Prior to that, she was President and CEO of ING Malaysia since 2007. During her time with ING in Malaysia, Menon grew ING’s operations to become the second largest insurance company in the country, managing a well-balanced multichannel operation covering Individual Life, Bancassurance and Employee Benefits. She also established and successfully launched a Takaful (Islamic insurance) business in Malaysia.

Dr. Menon is a certified medical practitioner and practiced medicine for nine years before moving on to become only the second American Board certified insurance medical director in Malaysia in 1992. With over 20 years of Life Insurance experience, Menon has previously managed Tied Agency, Bancassurance and Direct distribution channels along with holding numerous senior management positions.

Menon was recognized as a “Leading Woman in Finance & Investment in Asia” by the Women in Leadership (WIL) Awards in 2011.

John McKendry is the Country Manager and Global Established Pharma Business (GEP) Lead of Pfizer Malaysia.

Based in the Head Office in Kuala Lumpur, John is responsible for the internal management and the external representation for the overall Pfizer business in the country. As GEP Lead, he also oversees the growth of Pfizer’s off-patent products.

John started his role in Pfizer Malaysia in 2015. Prior to joining Pfizer Malaysia, he was based in Pfizer Hong Kong as Regional Therapeutic Area Lead, Pain Portfolio, for the Global Innovative Pharma Business (GIP) in the Asia Pacific Region. He has over 15 years of experience in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry, his strong track record within Pfizer include Commercial unit for the Established Products Business Unit at Original Brands Division in Canada for the Established Products Business Unit.

He sits in the Board of Pharmaceutical Association of Malaysia as well as the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce. John holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology as well as a Master in Science Degree in Physiology from the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is also a holder of an executive certificate in Corporate Strategy and Innovation from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

Dato’ Dr Jacob Thomas, a medical doctor, has vast experience in hospital management, having served in various capacities at the Sime Darby Medical Centre, including as its Executive Director from 1998 till 2006. He is currently the Group Medical Advisor of Sime Darby Healthcare in addition to serving on the Board of Directors of the hospital. Sime Darby Medical Centre is a leading tertiary care medical centre in the region, reputed for its quality medical care and service excellence. Dr Jacob Thomas is currently the President of the Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) and also a member of the Consultative Panel of Healthcare sector of the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC) which promotes inter-hospital benchmarking among the major private hospitals inMalaysia. He serves as a Councilor of the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) which is an accredited member of ISQua. He is a member of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council. He is also a member of the “Asia Pacific Regional Advisory Council” of JCI. Dr Thomas today works closely with various Government agencies to promote Malaysian Healthcare both locally and internationally. In addition, Dr Jacob has been appointed President of the Asian Hospital Federation effective January 2012.

Dr Hanafiah bin Bashirun. Received Medical Bachelor and Bachelor in Surgery (MBBS) from University of Malaya. Worked in Emergency Department for 10years in 2 different private hospitals. Actively involved in NGO, Malaysian Cancer Foundation. Columnist in local Malay Tabloid. Currently working with International SOS as medical advisor.

A consultant physician and rheumatologist who is currently attached to Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor with the International Medical University and the Deputy Medical Director of IMU Healthcare. He has a special interest in Healthcare IT and
heads the Hacking Health Movement (http://hackinghealth.ca/city/kuala­lumpur) in Kuala Lumpur. 
He is the founder cum editor of Medicine Malaysia website (http://medicinemalaysia.com).

Zubin is a Director in PwC Southeast Asia Consulting and leads the healthcare consulting team in the region, while remaining a practicing clinician with an interest in orthopaedics. With almost 20 years of experience in health, prior to working with PwC, Zubin’s career in healthcare provision from a surgeon’s standpoint has included working in both the public and private sectors across continents, including cities like Dublin, Oxford and Singapore. This has allowed him to gain experiences globally that help provide his clients insights that assist in solving their most complex challenges. Zubin has extensive experience in Digital Health, Medical Education, HealthTech and MedTech, and is a Consultant, Advisor and Mentor to a number of start-ups and individuals in these spaces both locally as well as internationally. He holds Bachelors Honours Degrees in Medicine, Surgery and Obstetrics & Gynaecology from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) as well as two Masters Degrees in Orthopaedic Surgery from the RCSI and National University Singapore (NUS), the latter pending conferring. Having published extensively over the last decade with more than thirty publications to his name, including being an invited author for Economic Times, Zubin continues to write actively.

Some interesting things to know about Zubin include that he served in the Singapore Armed Forces as a paramedic, has been part of the Singapore National Team for Men’s Hockey, founded the Singapore Medical Society Ireland and volunteers his time for a number of good causes. Zubin is happily married and the proud owner of a beautiful chocolate brown Labrador, is a huge foodie, and loves spending time with his wife, family and friends. From a career perspective, Zubin believes that one should seek out a boss rather than a job and feels that good mentorship, strong leadership and teamwork are key ingredients to succeed. By having a few mentors with the above attributes at any one time, Zubin believes that one is likely to attain maximum benefit to their personal and professional development. A healthcare thought leader and strong believer in collaboration, Zubin hopes to bridge the gap between the technical and clinical sides within the realm of digital health.

Nik Ariff Nik Omar is the General Manager of the Public Sector Group at Microsoft Malaysia. Nik is responsible for all aspects of the business driving Microsoft Malaysia’s strategy and execution in the Public Sector, which includes Government, Health, Education and Public Safety. He is tasked with developing and delivering solutions in five keys areas – productivity, mobility, cloud, big data/analytics and social enterprise.

Nik brings with him over 26 years of experience in the Information Technology industry, after having previously held a similar role at SAP Malaysia and Brunei for three years, leading the Public Sector, Healthcare and Education team, where he helped grow the business substantially.

His vast industry experience also includes various leadership roles with IBM, Percetakan Nasional Bhd (a Ministry of Finance company under Ministry of Home Affairs) and Avnet Malaysia.

Nik Ariff holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Concordia University, Montreal and a Master of Engineering from University of Toronto, Canada.

Outside of work, Nik enjoys spending time with his wife and family.

Lee Yu Kit is a technical leader in IBM's public sector industry, which includes healthcare. He has extensive experience working on large healthcare and social services projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region and in developing countries. He brings innovative points of views to clients, leveraging the latest technology trends such as Cognitive, Cloud, social media and the Internet of Things.

He has been interviewed on radio, written technical articles for local periodicals, and spoken at numerous customer forums on a wide range of topics, including healthcare.

He was the CTO of Malaysia in 2014-15 and has been recognized as a member of the Leadership team of IBM's prestigious Academy of Technology (AoT), comprising less than 1000 technical elites within IBM globally.

Paul leads the Strategy and Marketing for GE Healthcare’s Ultrasound business across the APAC region. In his role Paul helps connect regional healthcare providers with healthcare technologies and solutions focused on maximizing clinical outcomes.
 
Paul has over 19 years’ experience in product marketing, consulting and market research. He started his career in 1997 in Mexico City working as a market researcher in the pharmaceutical industry. Thereafter, Paul moved to Seattle, Washington working as a strategy consultant for IT, medical device, and consumer goods companies. In 2005, Paul moved to Hong Kong and over the next 6 years, he subsequently developed deep experience in product marketing, customer insights, and portfolio planning working across China, Japan, and Singapore for Phillips and Flextronics.
 
Paul graduated with a Degree in Business Administration from the Western Washington University. He is fluent in Spanish and is conversant in basic Mandarin.