Léopold Blanc presently coordinates WHO's work on policies, norms and new approaches for the implementation of the Stop TB strategy which includes the increase in case detection, control of MDR-TB and TB/HIV. In 2000, he headed the Global DOTS expansion plan which included the development of cost estimates and the strategy for collaboration with partners engaged in TB control. He now coordinates its implementation through WHO's network in the regions and countries, in collaboration with partner organizations. In 1993, he joined the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office as Regional Adviser for TB and Leprosy, during which time the elimination of leprosy as a public health problem was achieved and the foundations for TB control in the region were laid. Earlier in his career, as head of the Department of Epidemiology and Training in the Institut Marchoux (Mali), and as a field worker in Niger, he led, or participated in, various clinical trials, clinical research and operational research in dermatological diseases and leprosy. As a General Practitioner he specialized in Tropical Medicine and Parasitology in Lille (France), and graduated in Epidemiology and Public Health from Nancy (France) and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (USA).

Esther Boucicault Stanislas, founder of FEBS and CAPEBS, has forged the way for PLWHA in a country where stigmatization made being open about HIV/AIDS a difficult path. In 1995, when Esther aired on Haitian radio and television programs announcing her own HIV+ status, she became known as the first person to speak publicly about the epidemic and has since given a voice to those living with HIV/AIDS in her home country. Her courageousness has allowed for free health care and nutritional support now available to PLWHA through her organization.

She has two daughters, Michele, 28, and Stephanie, 14. Her entire family has been incredibly supportive and she feels she would not have been able to endure the persecution without their help. Her motto is that there is positivity in seropositivity and that HIV is not the end of life, but rather the beginning of a new way of living.

Jo da Silva joined ARUP after studying engineering at Cambridge University. She has considerable experience utilising her engineering skills and knowledge in international development and humanitarian relief. She has been a member of RedR (Engineers for Disaster Relief) since 1991, and has provided her expertise in post-disaster situations, risk reduction, urban regeneration, liason with government and funding bodies and project management. Her experience includes work in the Rwandan Genocide (1994) and as a Senior Shelter Co-ordinator for UNHCR in Sri Lanka post-tsunami (2005). For the project she was program manager for the delivery of 60,000 transitional shelters, combining engineering and humanitarian expertise to deliver all the units in 6 months. Da Silva's work led to her being awarded British Expertise Individual of the Year (2006). She is a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Department of Engineering, Cambridge University, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Dr Rod Escombe is a leading researcher in the field of TB and its transmission. He has studied how the TB epidemic is heightened by people living with HIV, particularly in poor environments and developing countries. He has published studies on how to reduce TB transmission and its relation to airborne movement. Much of this research can be applied to building principles, and he has written extensively on how simple techniques such as opening windows have a big impact on reduction of TB transmission. This research has been put into practice in selected prisons and hospitals in Peru, which through implementing natural ventilation techniques into the building design have increased air ventilation, more so than with mechanical ventilation. He has presented his work to 'The International Union Against TB and Lung Disease' at their world conference in 2007 and 2008.

The firm of Zaha Hadid Architects was founded and is chaired by Zaha Hadid, the original and creative architect who was named by Forbes as 69th most powerful woman in the world, and in 2004 won the Pritzker Architecture Prize. The firm itself is based in London and has more than 350 staff. The firm is known internationally for its built work, as well as its theoretical designs. All designs are trademarked by their innovation, and often revolutionary approach to space, place and material. Stylistically and conceptually, the firm is interested in the interface between architecture, landscape and geology. Staff are currently working on the aquatics centre for the London Olympics, High Speed Train Stations in Naples and Durango, and masterplans for Beijing, Bilbao, Istanbul, Singapore and the Middle East. The firm is known for its bold vision and radical designs, ensuring that all work the firm produces is innovative and gives unexpected results.

Edward Nardell is associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, with parallel appointments in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health. His expertise lies in TB infection control and in 2002 he joined Partners in Health as Director of TB research. He has also been positioned as a full-time researcher in the Division of Global Health Equity, Brigham & Women's Hospital. He has conducted research into the control of multidrug resistant tuberculosis, airborne transmission of TB, and has since organized and co-chaired the first post graduate course to build control airborne infections in high-burden countries. He has experience working in pulmonary medicine, and was director of TB control for the city of Cambridge for 24 years. He is currently conducting research in South Africa into the effectiveness of various control interventions to the infectiousness of TB.

Graham Saunders trained as an architect and has experience in project design and management. His interests lie in shelter programming, disaster trends, shelter solutions, and partnerships on innovation. Graham Saunders has considerable experience in shelter programming in Africa, South & South East Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, and has since been appointed Head of Shelter in the newly established department within the Secretariat in Geneva. He works to assist emergency shelter coordination in natural disasters, identifying good practice, and raising awareness. Following the Haitian earthquake Graham was instrumental in the coordination of humanitarian shelter agencies from across the United Nations, IFRC, other NGOs, and the Haitian government.

Dr. Ken Yeang is the chairman of a leading architecture and planning firm, Llewelyn Davies Yeang. He was recently named by the Guardian as one of 50 individuals who could save the planet. And he was named as the leading architect in ecological design by CNN. Yeang uses vegetation to create habitats in his buildings as total living systems, renewable energies such as photovoltaics, scallop-shaped sunshades for rainwater harvesting, advanced ventilation and light-pipe systems to make buildings perform as complete ecosystems. He balances between engineering infrastructure and designing to mimic nature. He has developed over 30 years of research, delivered over 200 built projects and authored over 5 books on ecological design. His designs are always grounded in environmental principles and are the inspiration for innovative green tall building. The ‘bioclimatic skyscraper’, one of his masterpieces, champions vertical urban design.