Tatiana Puiu is an Attorney at Law in the Republic of Moldova and the Vice-President of the European Committee of Social Rights. Her professional experience in human rights and the rule of law spans legal, policy, and practical fields.

Tatiana has served as an expert advisor to a wide range of international and national organizations and bodies working on human rights issues, including the Council of Europe, OSCE, National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), and (I)NGOs.

Sergey Ghazinyan is a human rights lawyer specialising in mental health and the protection of vulnerable groups. He is a PhD candidate in Law at
Yerevan State University and a lecturer at the American University of Armenia and YSU. He works as a consultant with the Council of Europe on human
rights on different occasions, and previously served as Adviser to the Human Rights Defender of Armenia.

Violetta Zopunyan is a healthcare lawyer and Founder-President of the Center for Rights Development NGO in Armenia. Following her fellowship in “Human Rights in Patient Care,” she has dedicated more than 17 years to advancing the protection of patients’ and healthcare professionals’ rights, legislative analysis, and advocacy for reforms in the field of health law.

She is a member of the Ethics Commission reviewing violations of professional ethical standards by healthcare professionals, as well as of the Public Council and the Licensing Commission under the Ministry of Health of Armenia. She has contributed to national policy discussions on universal health insurance, mental health reform, palliative care, and reproductive health rights, and is the author of multiple reports and publications on patients’ rights, including CEPA health sector monitoring. Ms Zopunyan teaches health law in accredited continuing medical education programmes and at the master’s level in healthcare management. She regularly participates in international academic and professional forums and has delivered a TEDx talk on patients’ rights. Her
work focuses on strengthening rights-based healthcare governance and accountability mechanisms in Armenia.

Mr. Sven-Eric Söder was appointed chair of The Swedish National Council on Medical Ethics in 2021.

Mr. Söder has extensive experience from Government Ministries where he has taken on several positions, such as State Secretary at the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, State Secretary at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Press Officer to the Swedish Minister of Defence. As State Secretary at the Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications Mr. Söder was e.g. in charge of the first Swedish Life & Science strategy.

Adding to this, Mr. Söder has experience from the private sector and the pharmaceutical industry in particular. As a member of the Leadership Team of Pfizer
Sweden, he has been in charge of public affairs and communication on the Swedish market.

Mr. Söder has also served as Director General of the Folke Bernadotte Academy. The Swedish Government Agency for International Peace and Security with worldwide activities and extensive cooperation with the EU, OSCE and UN. Currenty is Mr. Söder also Vice Chair of the Swedish University of Arts, Crafts and Design.

Laurence LWOFF holds a MSc. in reproductive physiology from the University of Paris VI – Jussieu (France). She then obtained her degree in agronomy from the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (France) in 1986 and received her PhD in molecular biology in 1989. 

She joined the Council of Europe in 1991, where she was entrusted with the responsibilities of the Secretariat of the Conventions concerning the use of animals in agriculture and science, in the Directorate of Legal Affairs. In 1999, her responsibilities were extended to biotechnology. She was the Secretary of the International Conference of the Council of Europe on Ethical Issues Arising from the Applications of Biotechnology (Oviedo, Spain, May 1999). In 2002, she joined the Bioethics Department where she has been responsible in particular for the activities on human genetics and on the protection of the human embryo and the foetus. Since 2012 she is the Secretary of the intergovernmental committee in charge of the protection of human rights in biomedicine, i.e. the Steering Committee for Human Rights in the fields of Biomedicine and Health (CDBIO). She is the Head of the new Health Division (DGI - Directorate of Social Rights, Health and Environment).

Lusine Hayrapetyan is the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia and Armenia’s national representative to the Council of Europe’s Steering Committee on Human Rights and Biomedicine (CDBIO). She has over 13 years of experience in health law, patients’ rights, and healthcare regulation.

She played a central role in Armenia’s ratification and implementation of the Oviedo Convention and continues to support the harmonisation of national legislation with European human rights standards. Her work focuses on legal reform, patient-centred care, biomedical ethics, and strengthening accountability and rights-based healthcare governance.

Viktorya Aydinyan is a policy and institutional architect with extensive experience leading public sector transformation, digital governance, and development
partnerships in Armenia. She currently serves as Head of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, where she drives national strategy and performance management system development, GovTech modernization, development assistance coordination, and high-level oversight of priority national initiatives in connectivity and public administration reform. Viktorya has contributed to the design and delivery of more than 20 national strategies, led the reengineering of critical public services, and advanced digital government platforms to strengthen state capacity and citizen trust. She previously served in senior roles at the Ministries of Justice and Labor and Social Affairs and worked with international organizations on policy and reform.

She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Oxford and executive education credentials from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Marietta Khurshudyan is a Public Health Officer (Mental Health) at the WHO Country Office in Armenia and a clinical psychologist with a Master of Public Health degree. She has over 20 years of experience in mental health, public health governance, and human rights. She has contributed to mental health legislation and policy development in Armenia and supports the rights-based transformation of mental health services through the WHO QualityRights initiative. Her work focuses on integrating mental health into primary health care, strengthening mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings, and advancing
survivor-centred responses to gender-based violence.

Mushegh Hovsepyan is a human rights policy specialist and President of Disability Rights Agenda NGO in Armenia, with over a decade of experience in disability rights and public policy. He works at the intersection of national reforms and international human rights standards.

He is Armenia’s official candidate for the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2027–2030) and serves on the WHO Regional Office for Europe Technical Advisory Group on Disability and Health, supporting disability-inclusive health systems and policies.

Mushegh has collaborated with UNDP, WHO, and ILO on disability inclusion, monitoring, and legal reform, and has contributed to reports for multiple UN treaty bodies and the Universal Periodic Review. He has drafted legislative amendments on deinstitutionalization, accessibility, mental health, and CRPD principles, and authored numerous policy and academic publications.

He holds a Master of Public Administration and is pursuing a Master of Laws in Civil Law and Procedure.

Knar Ghonyan is the Head of the Healthcare Policy Department at the Ministry of Health of Armenia. She holds more than 25 years’ experience in policy development across multiple areas, including mental health. Her work includes the planning and implementation of national action plans aimed at protecting and improving population health outcomes.

Boglárka Benkó holds a master’s degree in law from Eötvös Loránd University, a Master’s in human Rights from the University of Strasbourg and a Master of European Law from the College of Europe (Bruges). Since 2012 she is working at the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights as a senior case-processing lawyer and as a case-law coordinator on the rights of persons with disabilities for the Office of the Jurisconsult.

She previously worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary as Desk Officer for International Organisations and at the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina as Human Rights Officer. Her previous work experience also includes working as a lawyer at a nongovernmental organisation advancing the rights of persons with psycho-social disabilities. She was election observer for number of EU/OSCE election observation missions.

Armen Mazmanyan is a Legal Officer at the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights at Council of Europe’s headquarters in Strasbourg. He previously taught and researched in the field of comparative and international law and advised international organizations on matters of constitution-building, human rights and electoral integrity. He holds a PhD in Law.

Knarik Arakelyan is a psychologist and communications professional with over 14 years of experience in public relations, health communication, and public awareness campaigns. She is currently the Managing Editor of “CancerWorld “ Europe’s flagship oncology magazine, and serves as PR and Communications Officer at “EMERTÉ” Clinic and Media Relations Lead for the “Global to Local” NGO.

She holds a PhD in Psychology and completed graduate and postgraduate studies at Saint-Petersburg State University (RF), as well as a Visiting Scholar fellowship at Arizona State University (USA). Dr. Arakelyan is the author and co-author of more than a dozen scientific publications and has contributed
to the adaptation of research methodologies in victim behavior studies.

Her professional background includes senior PR and communications roles in major healthcare institutions and government bodies in Armenia. She is also a guest lecturer at Yerevan-based universities, teaching Victimology, Psychology of Law, and Media Communications.

Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, MD, PhD is a dermatologist and academic clinician with extensive experience in healthcare governance and quality management.

He serves as Director of the National Center of Burns and Dermatology and as Chief Dermatovenerologist of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Armenia. His professional activities focus on the development and implementation of national clinical guidelines, quality assurance systems, and evidence-based, patient-centered models of care. Dr. Hovhannisyan has been actively involved in health system reforms, professional education, and international cooperation in the fields of dermatology, public health, and medical ethics.

His work emphasizes patient rights, informed consent, and shared decision-making as essential components of high-quality healthcare.

Yevgenia Muradyan is a Doctor in Law from Jean Moulin 3 University, Lyon, France. She has more than 13 years of professional experience in both the public and private sectors.

She is a Council of Europe national expert in the framework of the Project on "Human rights Protection in Biomedicine" and lecturer at French University in Armenia specialized in Health Law and Administrative Law.

Licenses: advocate and mediator licenses.

Ms Paula holds a Law degree from the University of Lisbon and a Master’s in Bioethics from the Complutense University of Madrid. She practiced law for 38 years and, since January 2022, serves as Ombudsperson at the Champalimaud Foundation and member of its Ethics Council. She is also a member of the Comité Éthique en Commun INRAE–Cirad–Ifremer–IRD (France).

She collaborates as an international expert with the Council of Europe on human rights protection in biomedicine and bioethics standards, including consultancy work for Armenia, and previously advised WHO on biomedical research legislation for Cabo Verde. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Bioethics and served on UNESCO’s International Bioethics Committee (until 2025).

Paula was a member of the European Commission’s European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies, chaired Portugal’s National Ethics Council for Life Sciences (2003–2009), and served on several ethics bodies in Portugal. She has authored numerous publications in bioethics.

Suren Krmoyan is President of the Armenian Health Law Association, an international expert for the Council of Europe, and holds a PhD in Law. He brings more than 27 years of experience in public administration, as well as in professional, academic, and educational activities.

His expertise spans public administration and healthcare reforms, healthcare law, judicial and legal reforms, digitalization and e-government, artificial intelligence, and personal data protection.

Dr. Krmoyan is the author of more than 60 scientific articles and professional manuals addressing healthcare law, public administration reform, digital transformation, e-government, and human rights protection.

He teaches at Yerevan State Medical University, delivering courses on Health Law, Digital Tools in Healthcare, and Application of Artificial Intelligence in
Healthcare, among other subjects.

In addition, he leads the Digital Armenia organization, promoting digital transformation and the responsible use of digital and AI tools in governance, the economy, healthcare, and other sectors.

Maria Hovakimyan is an Advisor to the Minister of Health of Armenia with experience in universal health coverage, primary health care and e-health, and healthcare donor coordination.

She holds an MSc in Global Health Policy from The London School of Economics and Political Science.