Conference Committee Belgrade 2027
Chair of the 20th European Public Health Conference
Stefan Mandić-Rajčević, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Social Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, and serves as the President of the Serbian Public Health Association. He is the founder and director of the Laboratory for Infodemiology and Infodemic Management. Dr. Mandić-Rajčević completed his medical training in Belgrade (Serbia) and obtained his PhD in Occupational Health from the University of Milan (Italy). His early research at the International Centre for Rural Health (WHO Collaborating Centre) focused on professional toxicology and pioneering computational models for pesticide risk assessment. His current research portfolio integrates infodemiology, behavioral insights, and the social determinants of health. He has served as a Principal Investigator for World Health Organization (WHO) initiatives on infodemic management and as the Regional Team Lead for the USAID-funded MOMENTUM project, overseeing behavioral change strategies across Europe and Eurasia. Furthermore, he collaborated with the Emory Global Health Institute on multidisciplinary research to strengthen regional health security. Dr. Mandić-Rajčević has published over 70 international peer-reviewed articles and is dedicated to advancing evidence-based public health action and policy, and fostering international scientific exchange to address emerging global health challenges, especially related to the information environment, trust, and health behavior.
Chair of the International Scientific Committee (ISC)
Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic, MD, MSc, PhD, is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia. She serves on the Management Board of the Agency for Public Health Education Accreditation (APHEA) and actively contributes to strengthening public health education and systems across Europe.
Professor Bjegovic-Mikanovic is a former President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), has been actively involved in ASPHER governance for many years, and currently serves on the ASPHER Honours Platform. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to public health, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the National School of Public Health in Athens.
Her academic and professional work bridges research, policy, and education, focusing on health systems transformation, workforce development, and continuous quality improvement. She has participated in and coordinated a number of national and international projects supported by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank, and the European Union.
Guided by the EPH 2027 theme, “Beyond Borders, Beyond Divides: Public Health as the Language of Trust and Peace,” she envisions the Belgrade conference as a unifying platform—fostering dialogue, strengthening solidarity, and advancing equitable, resilient health systems across diverse societies.
International Scientific Committee
The International Scientific Committee (ISC) is responsible for:
- safeguarding the scientific quality of the content of the EPH Conference,
- scoring the abstracts submitted for presentation at the EPH Conference,
- providing advice to the organisers in all matters concerning research and science,
- contributing to the scientific evaluation of the conference.
The EPH Conference Executive Board appoints the chair of the ISC for the year of the conference, upon advice from the Local Support Committee. The ISC has its annual meeting in November during the conference.