Michael Weidokal, Baldwin Wallace University
Wednesday Morning: “The Impact of Global Macro-Trends on Your Business and the Economy”
About Your Presenter:
Michael Weidokal is an internationally-recognized economic and geopolitical forecaster who helps business leaders, policy makers and the wider public to understand the issues and trends that are impacting the world today, and that will shape the world in the years to come. He is the president and founder of International Strategic Analysis (ISA), a leading provider of economic forecasting, international market intelligence and geopolitical analysis with clients all around the globe.
Weidokal’s ability to combine international economics, geopolitics and history allow him to have a unique perspective on the issues and events that are taking place throughout the world. His areas of expertise include the fields of international economic competitiveness, global market selection and geopolitical risk assessment. Furthermore, he has repeatedly proven to be able to accurately predict important trends and developments before they happen.
A prolific writer, Weidokal is a leading contributor to a wide range of ISA’s best-selling publications, including ISA’s monthly Country Reports, Risk Forecasts and many more. In addition, his new book "The Need For Growth" will be released in 2024 and details the growing challenge that the global economy will face in terms of generating growth in the 2020s and beyond, and what this means for the planet and its inhabitants. He is also a frequent speaker and appears often in the media, speaking on a wide variety of topics.
After a career that took him to more than 70 countries, Weidokal founded International Strategic Analysis in 2003. Today, ISA is one of the world’s most respected economic and geopolitical research firms, providing research and support for thousands of the world’s leading businesses, governments and universities.
Ethel Torres, RN, National Drug Source
Wednesday Lunch: "Beyond the Bedside: Building a Global Pipeline for Medicine Access"
About Your Presenter:
Ethel is President & CEO of National Drug Source (NDS), a pharmaceutical distribution company she co-founded in 2002, with exports to over 60 countries. Her experience and background in healthcare, where she served as a Registered Nurse, has been responsible for her patient centric focus at National Drug Source, where the priority is to deliver quality and safe medicines and other wellness products. By improving access to medicines and therapies not yet available in their home countries, NDS has helped patients achieve health & wellness around the globe. NDS was the recipient of the NC Exporter of the Year Award in 2022, and the Governor’s Export Award in 2023. Ethel is a North Carolina DEC Member and a board member of the World Trade Association Charlotte Chapter.
Dr. Emad Estemalik, MD, MBA, International Business Development at Cleveland Clinic’s International Operations
Thursday Morning: “The Cleveland Clinic’s International Expansion Story: bringing world class healthcare to the world"
About Your Presenter:
Emad Estemalik MD, MBA is the Chair for International Business Development at Cleveland Clinic’s International Operations, Section Head for Headache and Facial Pain at Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute and Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Lerner School of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.
He joined the Cleveland Clinic as Staff in 2013. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and Headache Medicine by the United Council for Neurological Subspecialties. He is a member of the American headache society.
Dr. Estemalik completed his residency at the Cleveland Clinic in 2012. He also completed a one year fellowship in Headache Medicine following his residency. He received his MD from the Ain – Shams medical school in Cairo, Egypt in 2005. He is also a graduate of the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University from which he holds an MBA degree.
Dr. Estemalik leads the efforts of expanding the Cleveland Clinic’s global outreach to enhance the Clinic’s international presence, direct its international resources towards building quality relationships with global healthcare institutions and identifying strategic market opportunities to direct investment strategies.
Dr. Estemalik also serves on the leadership committee of the Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute. His role includes executing the Cleveland Clinic’s vision and help achieve a high – performing institute while integrating education, research and medical innovation. His focus is to enhance the capabilities of medical informatics while directing the institute’s programmatic domestic and international growth and further enhance the development of service lines that better serve patients. He also sits on the Neurological Institute’s marketing and philanthropy committee.
Dr. Estemalik speaks Arabic, German, French and Spanish. Born in Cairo, Egypt, he lived in various countries of the Middle East in addition to several years in Hamburg, Germany.
Dr. Estemalik’s areas of interests are migraine headaches, trigeminal autonomic cephalgias and facial neuralgias. He is a national and international speaker on various topics of headache disorders and its comorbidities. He is an active participant in various headache clinic trials at the Cleveland Clinic. He is an active reviewer for Cleveland Clinic’s journal of medicine, Pain Practice Journal and the Egyptian Journal of Neurology and Neurosurgery. He consults and serves on faculty advisory boards of Lundbeck, Lilly, AbbVie pharmaceuticals.