Speaker: Mr. Derek Hodkey, President and CEO of Orbis

Moderator: Professor Christopher Leung, Chairperson, Department of Ophthalmology

Date: 30 May 2023 (Tuesday)

Time: 19:00 – 20:00

Venue: Hui Pun Hing Lecture Hall, Lecture Room LE1, Library Extension Building, The University of Hong Kong

Registration

For HKU Members (HKU Portal login is required): https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?ueid=87861

For Guests: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=87861

All are welcome.

About the Lecture

Since its establishment in 1982, Orbis has made encouraging strides in fighting visual impairment via its iconic Flying Eye Hospital and hospital-based trainings. On May 30th, 2023, Mr. Derek Hodkey, President and CEO of Orbis International will share the unique approach of Orbis in bringing advanced skills and technology to developing countries and his personal experience from recent visits to Orbis programs in India, Ethiopia, and Vietnam, the challenges and opportunities.  He will also tell you more about the role of innovation and telemedicine through their award-winning platform Cybersight which brings affordable and quality eye care to remote corners of the world, transforming the lives of hundreds of thousands of preventably blind and their families!

About the Speaker

Mr. Derek Hodkey joined Orbis International as President & CEO in September 2020. Since joining Orbis, Derek has been focusing his energy on executing the Orbis Global Strategic Plan (2022-2026), building relationships with the global team, clarifying roles & responsibilities, empowering country leaders, and leading via his 3T [Trust, Transparency, Timely communication] model.

Derek has worked over 30 years in health-related fields and brings with him a wealth of leadership experience that spans across international development, R&D, life sciences, non-profit as well as in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors.

Prior to joining Orbis, Derek spent 6 years as Senior Vice President & COO of Counterpart International. With more than 14 years of international development operations and program management experience, Derek led Counterpart’s Global Operations, Enterprise Risk and Crisis Management Teams charged with mitigating and responding to program, financial, security, human, and reputational risks across Counterpart’s portfolio of work in 24 countries.

Before joining Counterpart in 2014, Derek was Executive Director of Global R&D Operations at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) where he worked for 8 years. Derek was responsible for the development, execution and oversight of the R&D global intramural and extramural operations network in the USA, Europe, Africa, and India. Prior to his work at IAVI, Derek served as COO & General Manager of a Life Sciences Consulting Business and spent more than 17 years working in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors.

Derek received an MBA from Fairleigh-Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey and a BS in Chemistry from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio. Derek is the co-author of three scientific articles and holds a patent for an active immunosuppressant.

Derek is a divorced father of two adult children; a son Ryan works in law enforcement for the state of New Jersey, and a daughter Lauren works as a litigation paralegal for the one the largest law firms in the state of New Jersey.