ABOUT US

All Members of the Board are elected from the membership of TBEC. They act in a personal and voluntary capacity. They are not remunerated for their work as Board members.

Paul Sommerfeld, Chair of TBEC Board

Paul Sommerfeld has been Chair of TBEC since September 2019, having been involved with the Coalition since its creation. In his early years, he led on building links between activists in Western Europe and those in the East. Then, using his original career skills in facilitation, he led numerous advocacy and capacity-building workshops for TBEC across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Paul has been deeply involved in global health for over 30 years – first leprosy, then TB, and also influenza; with a focus on community engagement, advocacy, and governance.

From 1998 to 2019, he was Chair and is still Executive Trustee, of TB Alert, a United Kingdom-based NGO with programmes in India and the UK. Also, he was once Chair of the then Advocacy, Communication & Social Mobilization Working Group of the global Stop TB Partnership.

He has had a long career in international not-for-profit organisations; and has also held several UK public appointments – Chair of a National Health Service trust for mental health services in two London boroughs, and as a lay member in the regulatory bodies for judges, barristers, osteopaths, and pharmacists.

Yuliya Chorna, Co-Chair of TBEC Board

Yuliya has extensive work experience in the global health policy and practice, including senior leadership positions for not-for-profit NGOs focused on social equity and rights in the fields of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in Ukraine, Eastern Europe & Central Asia region. She was a part of the TB Europe Coalition’s steering group in 2016-2018 and has been leading TBEC Secretariat in 2018-2020.  During 2019-2023 she served on the WHO Civil Society Taskforce for TB. 

Yuliya has a master’s degree in social work from Syracuse University. Currently, she continues her education as a doctoral student in York University’s Graduate Program in Social Anthropology. She is also a member of the Social Science and Health Innovations Network for Tuberculosis at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. Her research problematizes how TB is being addressed on a global level, using critical methods and lenses of medical anthropology. 

Jonathan Stillo, Vice-Chair of the TBEC Board

Dr. Jonathan Stillo is an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. He teaches medical anthropology and public health.  He has been part of the leadership of TB Europe Coalition since 2012 and a member of the Global TB Community Advisory Board since 2013. He is currently the Coordinator of the WHO EURO/Wolfheze Patient-Centred TB Care Working Group.

Jonathan has received research grants from the US National Science Foundation, The US Department of State, among others, and has consulted for WHO, ECDC, and the US Embassy in Bucharest.  Jonathan has been researching tuberculosis (TB) in Romania since 2006—including living at a TB sanatorium for several months and interviewing hundreds of patients and medical personnel across the country. His current research and advocacy focus is on social, economic, and structural barriers to health and how better outcomes can be achieved for people with drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) using person-centered, human rights-based approaches.

Stefan Radut, Vice-Chair of TBEC Board

Stefan Radut is from Bucharest, Romania. In 2011, he started to get involved in ASPTMR, a young MDR TB patient’s organization at that time. He came across TBEC in 2012, when he heard the word “advocacy” for the first time. At that moment, he understood that advocacy was one of the ways to solve the MDR TB and TB problems in Romania and across the region. Now, nine years and four advocacy workshops later, three of which were conducted by TBEC, he is engaged in advocacy in Romania. He was involved in drafting the National Strategy for Tuberculosis Control, and in the development of the Draft Romanian TB Law. He is involved in advocacy efforts for approval of the Romanian TB Law. He is a member of the Romanian CCM and represents Romania in SEE Regional Coordination Mechanism. He is Vice-president of COPAC-Romania (Coalition of Organizations of Patients with Chronic Diseases from Romania). He is also a Vice-Chair of TBEC Board and a member of TB People. Since December 2017, he has been a member of the National Committee for Coordination of the Implementation of the National Strategy for Tuberculosis Control in Romania 2015-2020.

In 2017, he was on an Exchange Program for NGO leaders focused on working with the marginal population and he spent 3 weeks in the U.S.A. meeting many US Government and NGO representatives. Stefan’s organization, ASPTMR, holds 1-2 advocacy events a year.

Kira Grozava

Kira has more than 20 years of background spanning both public and private sectors. She has started her career in the NGO sector more than 15 years ago notably spearheading the launch of the Regional Technical Support Hub hosted by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

With an academic foundation in economics and finance Kira served as the program manager for TBEC from 2021 to 2023, gaining a deep understanding of the organization's mission and operations. Her nearly three-year tenure with the TBEC Secretariat team has equipped her with unique insights into partnership-building across diverse sectors and navigating the complexities of procedures and policies of various donor organizations. Her work often involves navigating complex challenges with sensitivity and diligence.

Currently residing in Belgium, Kira is fluent in Dutch and brings her diverse skill set to further strengthen TBEC's impact in the region.

Cristina Enache

A member of TBEC since 2012, Cristina has been working for the Romanian Angel Appeal Foundation in Bucharest since 2009. Since 2017 she has been the Advocacy Officer in charge of driving TB and HIV-related legislative and policy changes. For the past 4 years, she has been advocating for the adoption of the TB Bill by Parliament, a long and challenging legislative process.

Cristina is involved in the TB and HIV advocacy campaign, which started in April 2017 under the 2015–2018 Global Fund grant and will continue until 2021.

She has helped coordinate and implement activities such as the Alert Report “The Crisis of Anti-TB Medicines in Romania”  developed in collaboration with the Romanian Health Observatory and the media campaign.. She has contributed to the advocacy campaign awareness component on Facebook Stop TB Romania page: https://www.facebook.com/ParteneriatulStopTB/  and advocated for the 2019-2021 HIV/AIDS National Strategic Plan to be approved by the Government.

Daniel Kashnitsky

Daniel works as an Academic Relations Coordinator at the Regional Expert Group on Migration and Health. He is also a Junior Researcher at the Institute of Social Policy, Higher School of Economics, based in Moscow. Daniel has an MPH degree from Lund University, Sweden. Since 2006, he has been working in public health organizations across the EECA region. Daniel’s main areas of expertise are program management, budget advocacy, qualitative research, the health of mobile populations, and a people-centered approach to HIV and TB care. As a researcher, he believes in the nexus between the evidence base and stronger advocacy. He has worked for TBEC for 1.5 years and enjoyed this period much. Daniel believes in communities rather than in organizations. But as we need committed organizations to lead the change and structure the work, he is glad to contribute his expertise to a better work of the TBEC board.

Denis Godlevskiy

Denis started his career in an NGO which was helping to re-socialize people after detention and providing rehabilitation, care, and counseling for people who use chemical substances. In 2013-2018, Denis worked as an advocacy manager and later, Advocacy Director for the European Bureau of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. He coordinated marketing and advocacy activities in 7 countries of Europe where the Foundation had its programs (Russia, Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, Greece, Portugal, Netherlands). Currently, Denis works as a regional coordinator of the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition in EECA.

Denis graduated from Moscow Institute of Law and Management with a specialty in “State and municipal management” in 2016.

Denis sees the role of the Board member on one hand as supportive to the management of the organization in the development of long-term strategy, planning and financial well-being of an organization. Denis is a TB survivor.

Cristina Celan

A project management public health professional, with 13-year experience in TB programs management and positions in projects funded by the Global Fund, Stop TB Partnership and other entities in Moldova and EECA region. Directly responsible for coordination and grant management of the civil society component, both in regional and TB national grant. As part of the EECA TB regional grant, Cristina was involved in building a regional presence of TB activists and provided support to the regional movement leading to TB People being established as an informal network then legal entity, and also provided support to TB community groups at country level. She provided technical support and capacity building to local community centers on adherence of treatment support for TB patients; closely works with civil society organizations to enhance support for community-based treatment of TB; designs and implements advocacy, communication and social mobilization activities; carry out training sessions for implementing partners and sub-recipients.

Oxana Rucsineanu

Oxana Rucsineanu is currently leading a TB organization in Moldova (SMIT), which focuses on TB advocacy, engages in active case finding (ACF), provides psychosocial support, peer education, and activities to end stigma. Becoming a TB activist, after having gone through the personal experience of drug-resistant tuberculosis, she is now an active member of the National Platforms of TB NGOs and KAP (Key Affected Population) Committee, CCM, and National Committee of Experts in the country. Internationally, Oxana is engaged in TBEC, CABs STREAM, GCTA, TB CAB, TB People, and RCC-THV and SEE-RCN networks. Since 2011, Oxana has coordinated several projects focusing on the rights of TB communities, comprehensive approaches to ACF, TB care, and CE in R&D. Oxana is strongly committed to advocating for constructive partnerships and efficient TB care as well as to making TB voices heard in the global TB response.

Oleksandra Denysenko 

Oleksandra Denysenko has been working in the non-governmental sector since 2016 and has expertise in planning and implementing public health programs.

Her focus has been on overcoming tuberculosis since 2018, and she stood at the origins of the establishment and launch of the TB community in Ukraine. This position has endowed Oleksandra with an in-depth understanding of the national epidemic's intricacies, allowing me to navigate the complexities of the TB landscape with a nuanced perspective. Her commitment to addressing tuberculosis extends beyond borders, as Oleksandra actively engage with and seek inspiration from international efforts to combat this global health challenge. Her specific interest lies in the experiences of EECA countries, where Oleksandra closely monitor initiatives and interventions aimed at tuberculosis prevention and control.

Since 2024, Oleksandra Denysenko has been the executive director of TBPeopleUkraine, which brings together people affected by TB and those striving to overcome tuberculosis.

Bakyt Myrzaliev

Dr. Myrzaliev is a public health professional with 19 years of experience in TB, holding key management roles such as Deputy General Director and Head of the National Reference Lab at the National TB Center in Kyrgyzstan. He directed the USAID-funded TB CARE I and Challenge TB programs from 2011 to 2019 and currently represents KNCV in the Kyrgyz Republic. His notable contributions include scaling up MDR-TB treatment regimens and introducing advanced sequencing technology. He holds an M.D. in General Medicine and a Ph.D. in TB Diagnostics from Kyrgyz State Medical Academy.

Dr. Myrzaliev's career is marked by his leadership in planning and implementing national and international TB initiatives, significantly improving treatment success rates and reducing patient loss to follow-up. He has collaborated with various stakeholders, including USAID, the Ministry of Health, and international partners, to enhance TB control measures. Additionally, he serves as Academic Secretary of the National Center for Phthisiology's Dissertation Council and as an assistant at the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, where he updates study programs and teaches foreign students. His extensive research and technical support efforts have made him a leading TB expert in Kyrgyzstan.

Mona Drage is the director of LHL International Tuberculosis Foundation (LHLI) in Norway since 2017. LHLI has long-term partnerships with community-based organizations of people affected by TB, supporting them in the development from small local organizations to organizations with nationwide reach that have strong community voices that impact policy change. Together, LHLI and partners have spearheaded community -led innovations such as capacity building in health communication and lung rehabilitation for people with post- TB lung disease. LHLI have also strengthened our role as advocates for TB and global health in Norway over the last years and ensures that TB remains on the agenda of the decisionmakers. Mona is currently the chair of the Norwegian TB Committee and part of the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Stop TB Partnership board.