Speaker type: All

Christina Vösl

Christina Vösl was born in Linz, Austria in 1995. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with Afibrinogenemia (Factor 1 deficiency). She studied Political Science and Socioeconomics in Vienna and Montreal. Currently, she lives in Brussels where she works as a lobbyist for a main social partner organization representing enterprises and entrepreneurs. Throughout her life, Christina has been an active advocate for people with rare bleeding disorders and other chronic diseases. She took part in events of the Austrian Haemophilia Organization, the Swiss Haemophilia Organization and the European Haemophilia Consortium (EHC) and attended the 2012 World Haemophilia Congress in Paris. Christina lists her experiences and her private fight for proper treatment and independence as a reason why she became an advocate in her professional life as well.

Sarah Ford

An experienced non-profit executive and strategic communications professional with more than 20 years of experience in both the non-profit and private sectors, Sarah Ford currently holds the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS). Prior to joining the CHS, Sarah held several leadership positions at both an international level and within her local community. Most recently, she was the Executive Director of the Montreal West Island Women’s Centre (WIWC) which works to improve the quality of life for women at a community level through affordable and free development programming. Before the WIWC, Sarah worked with the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) for over 10 years, holding several positions including WFH Director of Strategic Communications and National Director of WFH USA. Sarah served as the Vice President Communications on the Board of Directors for the Montreal Council of Women and also served on the Board of Directors for Educonnexion.

Silvina Graña

Silvina Graña is a Psychologist, with a specialization in Clinical Psychology. She has worked at the Foundation of Hemophilia in Argentina with children, teenagers and their families since 1994. She has been coordinating workshops and meetings with teenagers and their families at the Foundation and its provincial branches for more than 29 years. She is the vice-chair of the WFH Psychosocial Committee. She has been a speaker and facilitator of workshops since 2001 in Latin-American countries and a reviewer of the Haemophilia journal since 2018. Silvina is the head of the Accompanying Parents Program, a volunteer group of parents with children with hemophilia. She has written a booklet for schools with this group. In addition, she is the author of “Let me tell you a Story”, a collection of books for children related to hemophilia and comprehensive care, and “My special friend, Pancho”, a video for teenagers. She writes articles regularly in the magazine Conocernos, a publication of the Fundacion de la Hemofilia Argentina. Her working field includes: Individual and family psychotherapy, Follow-up for families, Assistance to hospitalized patients, School advice, Preventive and psycho-educational programs, Outings, Camps and Women support groups.

Meila Roy

I gained my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of East Anglia, UK in 2010. The relationship between physical health and psychological wellbeing has always been of particular interest to me and I have worked with individuals with different health conditions since 2013. I now work within the Southern Haemophilia Network providing psychological services to children, families, and adults with bleeding disorders from across the South of England. My priority is to work alongside children, families, and adults to help them make sense of any challenges they face in relation to their bleeding disorder or treatment. This means drawing on multiple psychological models and collaborating to find the approach that best suits an individual’s needs. My aim is to promote wellbeing across all areas of life by working together with the individual and the wider team.

Rana Saifi

Rana Saifi is the Regional Manager for the Eastern Mediterranean at WFH since 2015. She is based in Montreal, Canada and travels frequently to the region. When she first started with WFH, she was also responsible for the Africa region.

Ms Saifi has a background in International Development. Before moving to Montreal, she worked in the region with international NGOs, the Canadian Embassy in Amman and the British Embassies in Jordan and Yemen. She also worked as a Middle East Social Development Adviser with the UK’s aid ministry – the Department for International Development in London.

She holds a BSc Business Administration and an MSc in International Development form the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, UK

Mohsena Olath

Mohsena is the Operations Manager of the Haemophilia Association of Mauritius and is responsible for the overall management of the Organisation. She has over twenty years of experience in Non-Profit Management, Fundraising and Development, Community Outreach, Advocacy, Human Resources and Healthcare. She has initiated the Psychosocial Aspects for the holistic development of people living with bleeding disorders at the Haemophilia Association of Mauritius. She is a member of the WFH Psycho Social Committee since 2020 and has delivered several presentations on psychosocial and mental health for people living with bleeding disorders. She was also a speaker at the 2022 WFH World Congress in Montreal. She is currently working on a research proposal on the Psychosocial impact on the Progression of care in Mauritius for People living with Inherited Bleeding Disorders. She is the Chief of the Scout group in her locality and is in charge of 100 youths to become better citizens. She is a Board Member of the Mauritius Brazilian JiuJitsu Federation and also practises the sport.

Dawn Rotellini

Dawn has been a leader in the bleeding disorders community for many years. As a parent of a son with hemophilia, she founded the Rocky Mountain Hemophilia & Bleeding Disorders Association in Bozeman, Montana, served as its Executive Director, and began their Family Camp. After moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she served as a board member for the Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania for six years and then as Executive Director of the Western Pennsylvania Chapter. She has been with the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation (formerly named National Hemophilia Foundation) for 14 years and serves as Chief Operating Officer. Dawn serves on the Board of Directors for the World Federation of Hemophilia and World Federation of Hemophilia USA. Dawn proudly chairs the Women and Girls with Bleeding Disorders and the Hemophilia Organization Twin Committees for WFH. She holds a Bachelor of Science from Montana State University in Bozeman.

Nawal Eltayeb

MD, MSc
Hematologist at hereditary blood disease center-Al ehsaa
Previously hematologist at national hemophilia center – Khartoum
Previously hematologist at Kosti hospital
Member of Sudanese hemophilia care association

James Kago

My name is James Kago and i am 38 years old. I have severe Haemophilia A and i am a graduate with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration specilizing in Human Resource Management. I am a board Member of Kenya Haemophilia Association and the current Treasurer of the Association. I have worked for various local and international organizations in Human Resource Management and currently i am a HR Consultant working with Kenya Society for the Blind. I am passionate about serving persons with disability and less privildged.