Board of Directors

Pia Rockhold, MD, PhD, Chair
Epidemiologist
Washington, DC, USA
piaroc@hotmail.com

Pia Rockhold - a Danish national, a senior public health specialist with a medical degree, and an epidemiologist. Dr. Rockhold has worked for more than two decades in public health, mainly in Sub Saharan Africa and Asia, in health services, water and sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, program evaluation, community involvement, equity, and poverty alleviation. She has conducted evaluations and reviews for UNICEF, the Onchocerciasis Control Programme and the Global Efforts for enhanced malaria control, and she has been affiliated with the Danish Health Research for Development and the Council for Health Research and Development. She was based in Sub Saharan Africa for many years as senior health and research advisor to Danida. Most recently, Dr. Rockhold was part of the World Bank’s Disability and Development team in Washington, DC as well as a censor in International Public Health at Universities in Denmark. Dr. Rockhold received a PhD in environmental epidemiology from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1995.

Doris Toolanen, Vice-Chair
Public Health Analyst
Bethesda, MD, USA
lewistoolanen@gmail.com

Doris Toolanen - a U.S. - Swedish national with a health planning and an economic development background. Ms. Toolanen has worked in international public health for the past two decades in agencies such as the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Health Organization where her focus was on health policy development. More recently she was at the World Bank's Human Development Network as a consultant on adolescent health and development. She has also carried out research on evironmental epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, and she served as Associate Expert for the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations, focusing on domestic violence, reproductive health, and organization of national health care systems. Ms. Toolanen is currently carrying out research on traditional and alternative medicine.

Holly Michael, PhD
Assistant Professor
University of Delaware
Newark, DE
hmichael@udel.edu

Holly Michael - a U.S. national and an Assistant Professor of Hydrogeology. Dr Michael researches groundwater flow in coastal environments, including sustainability of water supply and impacts of groundwater flows on coastal marine ecosystems.  She is currently working on projects that include assessing the vulnerability of fresh groundwater resources to climate change in coastal Bangladesh and modeling transport of contaminated groundwater to public supply wells in Kolkata City, India. As a  post-doctoral fellow at the National Research Council and the U.S. Geological Survey, Dr. Michael's  work involved constructing a large-scale regional groundwater model of the Bengal Delta in Bangladesh and India in order to further understanding of the pattern of groundwater flow in the delta. She has been involved in reconstruction efforts in the tsunami affected areas of Thailand, assessing the extent of seawater contamination of drinking-water supply. Dr. Michael received a PhD in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2004.

Esteban Sanz, PhD                    
Water Resources Specialist/Geoscientist 
ExxonMobil Corp 
Houston, TX, USA
esanz@northsouthgroup.org

Esteban Sanz - a Spanish national and a water resources specialist and geoscientist. Dr. Sanz’ work includes water contamination detection and remediation, evaluation of water resources, and design of efficient water management plans, particularly in densely populated and highly industrial areas. He has carried out project design, implementation, and evaluation with focus on strengthening capacity and long term social and economic development through technical support for water planning and management. Dr. Sanz has contributed to the design of measures to protect vulnerable populations from natural disasters and carried out research on groundwater flow and contamination. He obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering from the Technical University of Catalonia, Spain in 2007.

Maj-Lis Voss, Secretary
Executive Director
NorthSouth Group
Reston, VA, USA
mvoss@northsouthgroup.org

Maj-Lis Voss - a Swedish national and an economist and health specialist. Ms. Voss has worked for more than fifteen years on global public health issues, focusing on poverty reduction. She has extensive experience in the South Asia region and has taken part in the development of numerous human development projects at the World Bank. She has carried out research on poverty issues and contributed to major studies on child and adolescent health and well-being. Ms. Voss is affiliated with ECPAT, an international organization working to end human trafficking, and the Naomi Project, a local NGO providing guidance to high-risk pregnant women. She is currently carrying out research on pre-adolescent health and development towards a doctoral degree in public health and epidemiology.