Dr. Stephen King is a pathologist and former Chief Medical Officer. He is Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada and an International Fellow of the College of American Pathologists. He practices Pathology in Saint Lucia and serves as a pathologist for Anguilla, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands. He was one of the architects of the Saint Lucia Health Sector Reform Proposals 2000, the Universal Health Care Proposal of 2003, and the National Strategic Plan for Health 2006-2011. In 2008 he received the award of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contribution to Medicine. He was one of the co-founders and the first chairman of the AIDS Action Foundation and one of the co-founders and one of the current directors of RISE (St.Lucia) Inc. He is Chairman of the Caribbean Med Labs Foundation and the Laboratory Director and major shareholder of Laboratory Services and Consultation Ltd. He was an appointed Independent Senator 2012-2016. In 2019 he received the national award of the Saint Lucia Cross for his contribution to society.
Mr Dupres is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and a Chemical Engineer with 44 years of experience in the Energy Sector. He is the current Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards (TTBS) and has also served as the Executive Director of the TTBS, the President and Managing Director of Petrotrin as well as the Chairman of the National Petroleum Marketing Co. Mr. Dupres also serves on several Boards in the private Sector. With his training and skills in chemical and general engineering technology, business development, human resource development, project management, marketing, corporate planning and governance, Mr Dupres brings his wide business experience and his extensive knowledge of and interest in standards development and enforcement, to the Board.
Ingrid Lashley retired from active employment in July 2017 as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Trinidad and Tobago Mortgage Finance Company Limited. Prior to joining TTMF, Ingrid spent eighteen (18) years at a multinational bank in various senior positions in financial control, private banking, trusteeships and merchant banking, exiting at the General Manager level.
Ms Lashley is the holder of a Masters Degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Finance) from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and also carries the designations of Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant and Chartered Accountant. Ms Lashley is currently the Chairman of the Bourse Securities Group and National Enterprises Limited, in which capacity she sits on the Boards of the Investee Companies. She also holds directorships in Eco-Industrial Development Company of Tobago Limited, and two (2) other publicly traded companies. Ms. Lashley serves as a member of the Licensing Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Trinidad and Tobago.
Despite her demanding professional life, Ingrid finds time for involvement in the culture and social life of Trinidad and Tobago, the Board of Management of her alma mater, Bishop Anstey High School and Rainbow Rescue, a Home of Hope for displaced boys.
Reiba Harper is qualified to practice in England and Wales, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago and has over ten (10) years experience in the legal field. Reiba acquired general practice experience in law practices based in Jamaica and thereafter worked in in-house roles in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Reiba’s general practice experience exposed her to litigious matters in the area of breach of contract, landlord and tenant, recovery of debt and commercial contract matters. In Reiba’s in-house role in Jamaica she was employed as the Legal Officer for a general insurance company and was responsible for providing advice on various policy issues, negotiating settlements and acting as Defence Counsel in trial matters on behalf of the insurance company to name a few. During her time in this role, she was also selected to sit on the Insurance Association of Jamaica’s panel of Arbitrators. In Trinidad and Tobago, Reiba’s in-house role was in the area of risk management and compliance. In this latter role, Reiba was the CARICOM Risk Management Manager within a global audit firm. Reiba’s responsibilities included the preparation and/or vetting of various contracts, providing advice on auditor independence matters and management of the firm’s internal compliance audit. At present, Reiba is in private practice in Trinidad with regional collaboration on certain matters. Reiba brings to the Board a varied palate of experience as Legal Secretary.
David Picou, Emeritus Professor of Experimental Medicine, UWI, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, confesses that he initially wanted to be an architect but honoured the wishes of his parents to study medicine. He entered the University College of the West Indies 70 years ago and became a renowned Caribbean health researcher and the first Caribbean and UWI graduate to be appointed Director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, UWI, Jamaica. Professor Picou has also published and lectured extensively on protein metabolism and treatment of severe malnutrition in infants. He led the development and publication of clinical guidelines for the treatment of severely malnourished children in resource-poor countries which was adapted by the WHO and others working in the field for use globally which has saved millions of lives of babies, and young children and adults (1959-1978).
He re-located to Trinidad in 1978 to assume the post of Chairman of the Mt Hope Medical Complex Task Force and Project Manager which implemented this Complex of 71 buildings and structures including a 300-bed adult hospital, a 210-bed children’s and veterinary hospitals; a medical, dental, veterinary, pharmacy and advanced nursing schools (1978-1987)
Dr Picou then became the first Director of Research of the Caribbean Health Research Council (CHRC), where he promoted medical research in the Caribbean through organising annual medical research meetings and research skills training workshops regionally, a small grants research programme and obtaining substantial funds to conduct research in the region. He has served on the Board of the West Indian Medical Journal and as the Chairman of the CAREC Scientific Advisory Committee and on several international Advisory Committees and as consultant to WHO, PAHO/WHO.
He has lectured at prestigious institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Institutes of Health and has received several awards including the Trinidad and Tobago Chaconia Medal Gold for long and meritorious service and recently received a Caribbean Institute for Health Research Award, September, 2019. Professor Picou is also noted for his guidance on ethical issues related to research and served for many years as the Chairman of the CAREC Research Ethics Committee. While he loves Trinidad’s mas and carnival celebrations, Professor Picou appreciates the importance of discipline and focus to achieve desired goals. He brings a pragmatic scientific approach integrated with a unique “joie de vivre‟ to the Board
Dr. Roache was born in Jamaica and received her secondary education there. She married a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and is now also a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago but maintains her strong Jamaican persona. She is an independent medical practitioner and a Founder Member and Executive Director of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians (CCFP) with responsibility for ensuring that the objectives of the College are met, that CCFP continues to have observer status in COHSOD and as a “Liason Organisation within CARICOM‟ and maintains its relationship with the World Organisation of Family Doctors.
Her contribution has been recognized by the CCFP through the Award of a Fellowship of the Caribbean College of Family Physicians (FCCFP). In May 2010, she was accorded the accolade of “Global 5-Star Doctor” by the World Council of Family Doctors (WONCA) the first in the Caribbean to be so honoured, sharing the award with a Canadian Professor of Family Medicine, both being the first females to receive this award. Additionally in November 2018, she was the recipient of the Fellowship of WONCA , their most prestigious award- again a Caribbean first. Dr. Roache has had continuing close interactions with medical students as a lecturer, mentor and examiner, has served on the Accrediting Board for UWI‟s Post Graduate Programme in Family Medicine and in 2019 as a member of the team carrying out the Quality Assurance Review of the Department of Para-Clinical Sciences on the St Augustine Campus at Mt. Hope.
She has contributed to health promotion as a Director of “The Wellness Centre- Better Health Ltd” - a centre devoted to the prevention of illness and preservation of health, in addition to several other interventions, particularly those relating to physical and mental health in the workplace. Dr. Roache brings to the Board a seriousness of purpose and a concern and passion for the sustainable delivery of high quality medical and laboratory services in the Caribbean.
Dr. Paula Burns is the eighth President and CEO of Lethbridge College, a position that she has held since 2013. Before moving to Lethbridge College, Dr. Burns served as Provost and Vice President Academic of Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT). She is the holder of a Master of Arts in Education from Central Michigan University, a PhD from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education/University of Toronto and an MBA with a specialization in leadership, from Royal Roads University. Dr. Burns has worked in various departments across post-secondary institutions, from teaching, to curriculum development, to leadership positions. Because of her vast experience and skills, Dr. Burns’ is a sought-after speaker on change leadership and meaningful partnerships.
Dr. Burns continues to work with a variety of external organizations including chairing Alberta’s Comprehensive Community Colleges group and sitting as a member of the Council of Post-Secondary Presidents of Alberta Executive Committee. She is also a board member and chair of multiple committees for Colleges and Institutes Canada. She was a board member for Economic Development Lethbridge. Dr. Burns brings a plethora of invaluable skill and experience to the Board.
Dr. Cleghorn is a Trinidad-born US Citizen who obtained his initial medical training at the University of the West Indies in 1982. He is trained in internal medicine and infectious diseases and completed his fellowship at the US National Institutes of Health at the National Cancer Institute. He also holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology & Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health (Alpha Delta Omega). He has lived in Washington DC for many years. He is currently Global Head, Health Practice at Palladium - a global consulting and international development firm with a multi-disciplinary group of experts based in the USA, UK and over 40 countries around the world, implementing a wide range of health and social programmes in developed and developing countries. Dr. Cleghorn has over 30 years of experience in international development, research and programme implementation, including extensive collaboration with the Medical Research Foundation of Trinidad and Tobago and the University of the West Indies, where he served as external examiner. His career includes significant tenures at the National Institutes of Health (NCI), Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland Medical Center/Institute of Human Virology.
He is an expert on health systems and population health with a focus on infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS (having received numerous awards for outstanding contributions), pathogenesis, surveillance and epidemiology, clinical vaccine trials and training for capacity building for best practice. He serves as an expert reviewer for several renowned publications and is Chair of a NIH special study section for the HIV Clinical Trials Units. He has published extensively on HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases. Dr. Cleghorn‟s commitment to Caribbean development is unquestionable and he brings to the Board a full appreciation of the importance of evidence-based laboratory and medical decision-making and the experience of managing and growing a major Foundation.