 Simao Campos
Counsellor for ITU-T Study Group 16, ITU
Simão joined the secretariat of the ITU Standardization Sector in 2002, and is the Counsellor for ITU-T Study Group 16 (for standardization work on multimedia, including audio and video coding, accessibility/human factors, e-health, ITS, IPTV and digital signage) and ITU-T Focus Group on AI for health (FG-AI4H). He has a long experience in standardization, having started with voice compression standards in 1989. Prior to joining ITU, Simão was a Scientist at COMSAT Labs in the USA and a researcher at CPqD, a telecom research center in Brazil. A Senior Member of the IEEE, Simão authored several academic papers and position papers, served in the review committee of several IEEE-sponsored conferences, and organized the first ITU Kaleidoscope Conference.
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 Shelly Chadha
Technical Lead, Ear and Hearing Care, WHO
Shelly Chadha is the technical lead for WHO’s work in the field of ear and hearing care. The major initiatives she leads include the Make Listening Safe initiative, the World Hearing Day, the World report on hearing and the World Hearing Forum.
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 Nidhi Khare
Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India
Nidhi Khare, is an IAS officer of the 1992 Jharkhand Cadre. She is currently serving as Secretary in the Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India. With extensive experience in both state and central governments. Mrs Khare has held key positions at both the state and central levels, including District Collector in Bihar and Jharkhand and has played pivotal roles in key initiatives such as the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) program and the establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA).
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 Masahito Kawamori
University of Tokyo, Japan
Masahito Kawamori is the editor of ITU-T Recommendation H.870, “Guidelines for Safe-listening Devices/Systems”, the joint WHO-ITU standard for safe-listening. He is also the director of the Make Listening Safe Consortium Japan, a not-for-profit organization for promoting safe-listening in Japan. As the rapporteur for digital health and ICT accessibility at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency for telecommunication, broadcasting, information technologies of the United Nations, leads the discussion on technical standards of digital health and accessibility. He is involved with several projects related to digital health and accessibility with WHO, including accessible telehealth and tele-audiology. His specialty is in multimedia (audio-visual) and Information Communication Technologies (ICT), especially in healthcare and well-being such as telehealth and health informatics. He is also a Project Professor at Keio University, Japan.
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 P. Payden
Deputy Country Head, WHO India
A highly accomplished public health professional with over 30 years of experience in the field, Ms. Payden currently serves as the Deputy Head of the WHO Country Office in India, a position she has held since 2018. Prior to her current role, Ms. Payden served as the Regional Advisor for the WHO South East Asia Region. Her distinguished career with WHO spans 17 years, during which she has demonstrated a strong commitment to improving public health outcomes across the globe. Before joining WHO, Ms. Payden dedicated 12 years to the Ministry of Health in Bhutan, where she headed the Public Health Engineering Division. Her leadership and expertise were instrumental in advancing public health initiatives within the country. Ms. Payden holds a Master's in Public Health from the renowned London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a Master's in Sanitary Engineering from the prestigious Delft Institute of Water Education in the Netherlands. .
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 Mahima Sharma
Youth representative, India
Mahima Sharma is currently working with Miracle Foundation India, where she focuses on fundraising and building corporate partnerships to support children’s welfare. Her journey began with a degree in Journalism and Communication, after which she spent a year working in a newsroom, developing her skills in communication and storytelling. She has a special interest in youth development. Mahima is committed to ensuring that every child receives the love, care, and opportunities they deserve.
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Kapil Sikka
Professor of ENT & Head and Neck Surgery, AIIMS, New Delhi
Kapil Sikka is a Professor of ENT and Head and Neck Surgery at AIIMS, New Delhi, with over 12 years of teaching and research experience. He holds an MS, DNB, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in ENT. Kapil has a special interest in deafness and its research and has been the principal investigator for various projects related to novel hearing screening devices. He has been an ICMR task force member investigating the deafness scenario in India and its etiologies. He is the nodal person for the National Program for Prevention and Control of Deafness at AIIMS and has been instrumental in starting the universal neonatal hearing screening program at AIIMS, New Delhi. He is an active member of the Cochlear Implant team at AIIMS and runs a cochlear implant clinic. He has published over 150 papers and book chapters in reputable journals and has immensely contributed to the science of hearing loss through various research projects and talks. He has also served as an executive committee member of the Cochlear Implant Group of India and is a member of the Indian Society of Otology.
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