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Main Keynote Speaker Professor Frank Oberklaid
Foundation Director of the Centre for Community Child Health at The Royal Children's Hospital – Melbourne
Professor Frank Oberklaid, OAM, MD, FRACP, DCH, is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Community Child Health at The Royal Children's Hospital – Melbourne, Co-Group Leader of Child Health Policy, Equity and Translation at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and an Honorary Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne. Professor Oberklaid is an internationally recognised researcher, author, lecturer and consultant, and has written two books and over 200 scientific publications on various aspects of paediatrics. For many years he was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health; and remains on the editorial boards of a number of international journals. He is especially interested in prevention and early intervention, and the use of research findings to inform public policy and service delivery. His clinical and research training is in child development and behaviour, and his work as a specialist paediatrician is with children who have developmental and behavioural problems.
Subtheme 1 Keynote Speaker Emily Vargas-Barón, Ph.D.
Director, RISE Institute
Emily Vargas-Barón directs the RISE Institute and consults internationally in the fields of education, early childhood development and early childhood intervention, focusing on national policy planning, analysis and research. From 1994 to 2001, she was Deputy Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development where she directed the Center for Human Capacity Development, dedicated to international education development, training and telecommunications. Previously, she founded and directed a research and development institute for early childhood development in Austin Texas; was the Education Advisor for The Ford Foundation’s Bogotá Office; and served as a Program Specialist in Education for UNESCO. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Stanford University with a secondary focus on educational planning. She is the author of many publications and has worked in countries of all world regions.
Subtheme 2 Keynote Speaker Dr. Manzoor Ahmed
Professor Emeritus at BRAC University, Chair of Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN)
Dr. Manzoor Ahmed is Professor Emeritus at BRAC University, Chair of Bangladesh ECD Network (BEN), Vice Chair of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), and Chair of the Board of Management of the Institute of Child and Human Development (ICHD). He was the founding director of the Institute of Educational Development at BRAC University and served in senior positions in UNICEF over two decades as the Senior Education Adviser, Associate Director of the Programme Division and Country Director in China, Ethiopia and Japan. He began his professional career as faculty member of the Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University; later served briefly as Head of the Education Reforms Unit of the Pakistan Ministry of Education; and as Associate Director of Research at the International Council for Educational Development in Connecticut, USA. Dr. Ahmed had his higher education at American University of Beirut, IER of Dhaka University, University of Northern Colorado and Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University. His research and academic interests include educational policy and planning, early childhood development, non-formal and lifelong learning, skill development and education for rural and national transition. He has written extensively on these topics.
Subtheme 3 Keynote Speaker Professor Venita Kaul
Executive Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Center for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi
Dr. Venita Kaul is currently Executive Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Center for Early Childhood Education and Development, Ambedkar University Delhi. Prior to this assignment she was Professor and Director of School of Education Studies and Founder Director of the Center for Early Childhood Education and Development (CECED), Ambedkar University, Delhi till December 2016. Prof Kaul’s past assignments also include positions of Senior Education Specialist in The World Bank and Professor and Head of Department of Preschool and Elementary Education at National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi. She has led several Education projects within and outside India and been on several National and International Committees. Prof Kaul has a PhD from Indian Institute of Technology,Delhi in Psychology and has several national and international publications in Education and Child Development to her credit.
