Aylèn Van Isseldyk
Researcher and Director of THR Ethics & Sustainability
Aylèn Van Isseldyk is a researcher, author and international THR project coordinator focused on lower-risk alternatives’ environmental sustainability and pragmatic nicotine regulation. She leads THR Ethics & Sustainability, combining science, bioethics and public policy for adults unable or unwilling to stop consuming nicotine.
Her research compares vaping and other lower-risk alternatives with combustible cigarettes, covering plastics, batteries, e-liquids, waste management and circular economy solutions. She authored Environmental Impact of Vaping Devices: A Global Approach Towards Sustainability (SSRN; DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.6533039) and is preparing studies on nicotine pouches, snus and heated tobacco.
A Scholar and Academic Fellow of KAC’s Tobacco Harm Reduction Programme (Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction), she completed THRAcademy’s programme for low- and middle-income countries. She presented vaping’s environmental impact at GFN Science Lab (Warsaw, 2026) and participated in GTNF 2026’s climate and sustainability panel (Lisbon).
She contributes to Argentina’s regulatory debate, including Resolution 549/2026, addressing traceability, waste management and adult consumer autonomy through comparative evidence, international standards and policies prioritising harm reduction over prohibition.
Prof. Abdul Rasheed Khan
Professor of Cardiology
MBBS, MCPS, DIP-CARD, MD (Cardiology) FACP, FIER, FPHL, FPCS, FPHL
Prof Abdul Rasheed Khan is a Professor of Cardiology, clinician and medical educator whose career spans cardiovascular care, postgraduate training, professional leadership and public awareness across Pakistan and internationally. His fellowships include FPCS, FPHL, FPSIM, FIECR and FACP.
He formerly served as Executive Director of Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD); Head of Cardiology at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical & Dental College; Professor of Cardiology at Sohail University and Medicare Hospital; and Consultant Cardiologist at Liaquat National Hospital. He launched the Lipid Forum of Pakistan, now the Lipid Society of Pakistan.
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His honours include Awards of Excellence in Hypertension from the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and World Hypertension League (WHL); Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Pakistan Cardiac Society, Pakistan Hypertension League and Pakistan Society of Preventive Cardiology; and a Gold Medal from Gambat Institute of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
His professional leadership includes serving as Treasurer of the Pakistan Society of Echocardiography, Convener of the 14th Annual Symposium of the Pakistan Hypertension League in 2011, and Secretary of the National Congress of Preventive Cardiology (NCPC) and Revascularization Course of Cardiology in Pakistan (RCP). His previous positions include Secretary General and Joint Secretary of the Pakistan Hypertension League; Treasurer and Joint Secretary of the Pakistan Cardiac Society; Joint Secretary of the SAARC Cardiac Society; Coordinator of the Karachi Chapters of the Pakistan Cardiac Society and Pakistan Hypertension League; and General Secretary of the Pakistan Society of Physicians.
He serves as a manuscript reviewer for the Pakistan Heart Journal (PHJ), Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association (JPMA), Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan (JCPSP), Pakistan Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences (PJPS), and ASH Annals Journal.
His life memberships include the Lipid Society of Pakistan; Pakistan Medical Association Central and Karachi Chapter; Pakistan Cardiac Society; Pakistan Hypertension League; Pakistan Society of Interventional Cardiology; Pakistan Society of Preventive Cardiology; and Pakistan Aspirin Foundation. His international memberships include the American College of Cardiology (MACC), European Society of Cardiology (MESC), European Society of CPR (MEACPR), European Society of PCI (MEAPCI), and Asian Pacific Society of Cardiology (APSC).
He organised the SAARC Congress of Cardiology at Liaquat National Hospital in 2005 and the first direct live telecast of angioplasty cases from Karachi to Delhi, India, in 2008. He conducted regular continuing medical education programmes, seminars and symposia for family physicians and trainee doctors at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, alongside numerous conferences and professional programmes.
He participated as Chairman, Moderator and Panellist at the 4th IECR in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2010, and delivered a lecture remotely from Pakistan during the 5th IECR in Switzerland. He has served as Chair, Co-Chair, Speaker, Panellist and expert panel member at national and international conferences and webinars, regularly presenting at national cardiology conferences and attending selected international symposia and continuing medical education programmes. He was selected as a Pakistani speaker for the APSC 2019 meeting in Dubai, with the supplied biography noting that the physical conference was cancelled due to COVID.
His academic responsibilities include supervising MD Cardiology and Diploma in Cardiology programmes at Karachi University, and regularly examining both qualifications at Karachi University and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS). He has also served as an external examiner for MD Cardiology and Diploma in Cardiology at Isra University, Hyderabad; Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences, Hyderabad; and Peoples Medical University, Benazirabad (Nawabshah). He regularly sets examination papers for cardiology programmes at institutes across Sindh and completed workshops for FCPS Cardiology supervisorship.
Within his first two and a half years as Head of Cardiology at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Karachi Medical & Dental College, the department gained recognition as a centre for the MD Cardiology programme, following its earlier recognition for the Diploma in Cardiology programme.
A certified American Heart Association (AHA) instructor in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), he has regularly conducted courses at institutions in Karachi and other Pakistani cities. He remains actively involved in teaching, public awareness, physician education, academic programmes and conferences throughout Pakistan and abroad, and has served on advisory boards of national and multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Through his cardiology YouTube channel, @Hearthealth, he continues his longstanding commitment to education for both the medical community and the wider public.
Nancy E.Loucas
Community & Consumer Advocate
Founder, Paraclete Associates | Executive Coordinator, CAPHRA
Nancy founded Paraclete Associates to leverage her experience as a community and consumer advocate in supporting grassroots organizations. She was also co-founder and director of Aotearoa Vapers Community Advocacy (AVCA) in New Zealand and currently serves as the Executive Coordinator for the Coalition of Asia Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
Her mission is to build strong community and consumer organizations that push for evidence-based, inclusive public health policies and regulations that best serve the people they affect most.
Shahbaz Khan
Founder & CEO, What’s The Alternative (WTA)
Shahbaz Khan is the Founder and CEO of What’s The Alternative (WTA), a platform dedicated to informed dialogue on tobacco harm reduction. Through WTA, he works to make evidence-based information more accessible, encourage informed adult choices, and bring together perspectives from research, healthcare, and consumer advocacy.
His focus is on building constructive conversations that connect scientific evidence with public understanding, while placing dignity, autonomy, and practical approaches to harm reduction at the centre.