Perspectives from the IHF Young Executive Leaders

Ms Emma Dolan

Emma Dolan is the Executive Director of Strategic Planning & Execution for Kaiser Foundation Health Plan & Hospitals of Southern California. In this role, she works closely with the region’s executive leadership team to drive performance and provide high-quality, affordable care to over 5 million KP members.

Emma has been with KP since 2012, serving in several regional and local consulting roles across Northern and Southern California. Emma received her master’s degrees in public health and public policy from UC Berkeley in 2011. She lives in Southern California with her husband and three cats.

Mrs Carissa Gilbert

Carissa Gilbert has over a decade of experience across the UK, US, Caribbean and Europe. Her work focuses on shaping policy, driving implementation and delivering large-scale change across health systems.

Within England’s National Health Service (NHS), Carissa currently leads a national programme to improve the capture and use of mental health data across more than 170 emergency departments. Previously, she led the High Intensity Use programme, supporting over 150 services to improve care for people who frequently attend emergency departments. Her wider portfolio has included leading monitoring and evaluation programmes for community services and co-authoring the national operating framework for virtual wards (hospital at home). During the pandemic, she contributed to the strategic design of England’s COVID-19 vaccination programme.

As a Global Health Fellow, Carissa partnered with the Ministry of Health in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to design and implement a national mental health information system that digitised paper-based records.

Carissa holds an MSc in International Health Management from Imperial College London and a BA in Health and Societies from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a 2026 Young Executive Leader and has an interest in harnessing digital transformation and AI to redesign healthcare systems fit for the future.

Dr Giannina Rita Iannotti

Giannina Rita Iannotti, PhD, EMBA, works at the intersection of clinical care, research and hospital operations as Coordinator of the NeuroCentre at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG). She coordinates a multidisciplinary team and contributes to shaping integrated neuroscience pathways, aligning clinical services, translational research, resources, partnerships and innovation within a complex university hospital environment.

A clinical neuroscientist by training, she has built her career around translating scientific evidence into better healthcare delivery. Her research contribution is reflected in a sustained record of peer-reviewed scientific publications, competitively funded projects and research and innovation awards. Her work spans translational neuroscience, neuroimaging and the implementation of innovative diagnostic and therapeutic approaches into clinical practice.

Her current focus is on developing sustainable, patient-centred models of care and creating the operational conditions that allow innovation to generate lasting impact in hospitals, most recently recognized through a healthcare sustainability award (2025 BCV Sustainability Award).

She holds an Executive MBA in Healthcare Management from the Faculty of Business and Economics (HEC Lausanne), University of Lausanne, and participated in the International Hospital Federation’s Young Executive Leaders programme in 2023.

Dr Dimitar Mitev

Dr Dimitar Mitev is a physician and Chief Executive Officer of Hospital Zdraveto in Sofia, Bulgaria. His work focuses on healthcare management, digital transformation, and the practical integration of artificial intelligence into clinical and operational workflows.

He leads the development of hospital and outpatient services, with particular interests in patient-centred care, clinical research, and data-informed decision-making. His digital health initiatives include AI-supported radiology, clinical information systems, and workflow automation.

As a participant in the International Hospital Federation’s Young Executive Leaders programme, he represents Working Group 6, exploring the integration of big data, analytics, and AI for clinical and operational improvement.