We’re delighted to welcome Dr. Liesl Zühlke and John C. (“Jack”) Langenbrunner to our International Advisory Board.
“We’re grateful to them for sharing their expertise in global health and their life-long advocacy for improving health care as we enter into new partnerships with more hospitals around the world and expand our reach to help more children with congenital heart disease,” says Children’s Heartlink President Jackie Boucher.
As the director of the Children’s Heart Disease Research Unit in Cape Town, South Africa, Dr. Zühlke promotes and supports children’s heart disease research throughout the African continent. She has a clinical practice as a pediatric cardiologist at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. Dr. Zühlke has also established herself as a clinician scientist, lecturer, author of over 90 articles and five book chapters, and a global thought leader in heart disease. The first woman of color to be elected to the positions of president of the Pediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa (her current position) and the South African Heart Association, Dr. Zühlke embodies the transformation within the leadership of the cardiology community of South Africa.
Currently a senior adviser on Social Health Insurance in Jakarta, Indonesia, Jack Langenbrunner focuses on the financial impact of health care for the poor and vulnerable. As a health economist, he has extensive experience working on health financing issues in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Previously, he was an officer with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and a lead health economist for the World Bank. Before that he worked at the U.S. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. In the mid-1990s Langenbrunner served on the Clinton Health Care Reform Task Force for the U.S. White House. The author of multiple books and articles, he holds master’s and doctorate degrees in Public Policy/Economics and Health Policy from the University of Michigan.
Children’s HeartLink trains medical teams in underserved parts of the world to diagnose and treat children with heart disease. Founded in 1969, Children’s HeartLink currently supports 16 partner hospitals in Brazil, China, India, Malaysia and Vietnam. The nine members of our International Advisory Board lend their expertise in international development and global health to assist us with resource development and strategic initiatives, as well as help raise awareness about congenital heart disease and promote pediatric cardiac care for children around the world.
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