Session 2B. Innovative models of care for STBBI elimination in prisons
Tracks
Track 2
| Wednesday, September 30, 2026 |
| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM |
| Diamond 2 |
Speaker
Ms Pia Puolakka
CEO & Founder, Forensic Psychologist
MindTech
The Use of AI to Improve Prison Health
11:00 AM - 11:30 AMBiography
Pia Puolakka, CEO & Founder, Forensic Psychologist, MindTech, Finland. Pia Puolakka is a forensic psychologist, psychotherapist, and international expert in artificial intelligence, prison healthcare, prison digitalisation, and correctional reform. Drawing on over 15 years of experience in the Finnish Prison and Probation Service, she works at the intersection of psychology, AI, and healthcare to improve outcomes and care in prison settings.
Professor Mark Stoove
Head Of Public Health, Head Of Justice Health Research Group
Burnet Institute
The clinical effectiveness of a nurse and peer-led, mobile model of hepatitis C care adjacent to the community corrections setting in Australia: final results from the C No More study.
11:30 AM - 11:45 AMBiography
MD MPH Claude Scheidegger
MD MPH Board Member/SHiPP Manager
Swiss Hepatitis
A bottom-up strategy for improving blood-borne infection management in a highly diverse national prison system: The Swiss HepFree in Prisons Programme (SHiPP)
11:45 AM - 12:00 PMBiography
Dr Scheidegger, specialist in Internal Medicine, Intensive Care and Infectious Diseases, was senior clinician at University Hospital Basel (HIV clinic, emergency care). He later ran a practice serving vulnerable groups. With an MPH, he led various public health projects and now directs a Swiss detention programme for blood-borne infections.
Mr Sean Cox
Director Of Prisons
The Hepatitis C Trust
Prisoners facilitation BBV screening at reception
12:00 PM - 12:15 PMBiography
Sean Cox has 23 years of experience working in criminal justice; most of this time has been spent working in prisons delivering substance misuse services, health care services and the hepatitis C peer programme. Sean leads The Hepatitis C Trust’s criminal justice work.
Ms Mercy Nyakowa
Program Officer Viral Hepatitis & Hcv/hbv Study Coord In Prison
National Aids And Sti Control Program ,ministry Of Health Kenya
LEVERAGING HIV TESTING INFRASTRUCTURE TO PROVIDE VIRAL HEPATITIS SCREENING IN KENYAN PRISONS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
12:15 PM - 12:30 PMBiography
Mercy Nyakowa is a Program Officer at the National AIDS & STI Control Programme within the Kenya Ministry of Health. She has extensive experience working on HIV and infectious disease research with people who inject drugs and other key populations.
Formalities
Q&A
12:30 PM - 12:30 PMBiography
