Dr. Jean Dominique Vassali - President of the Board

Jean-Dominique Vassalli, former Rector of the University of Geneva, holds a doctorate in Medicine and one in sciences. From 1986 to 2015, he was a Professor of developmental biology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva; he is now Professor emeritus. He is the recipient of the Cloëtta Prize (1988), of the International Society for Fibrinolysis and Thrombolysis Prize (1994) and an ad personam member of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (2001). From 2011 to 2016, he was president of the Brocher Foundation; since 2016, he chairs the Foundation's scientific committee. He is also president of the board of the International institute for the rights of the child since 2020.

Virginie de Kalbermatten – Treasurer

Virginie de Kalbermatten is a member of the Foundation Board of the Institute for the Rights of the Child since 2020. After obtaining a degree and a master's degree in law at the University of Montpellier, she obtained a postgraduate degree in international economic law in Dijon before joining the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva where she defended her preliminary thesis on the privatisation of state-owned enterprises. She worked for 10 years in a large international law firm. She then continued her activity as a freelancer and was involved in numerous humanitarian causes, in particular for the Order of Malta's hospital service in Switzerland, of which she is head of the Valais section. Mother of 3 children, she also trained as a mediator at the Kurt Bosch Institute in Bramois.

Dr Yvon Heller - Member of the board

A paediatrician and school doctor in Nyon for 30 years, Yvon Heller is involved in the field of social and community paediatrics with a particular interest in vulnerable populations. He participated in the setting up of multidisciplinary groups in Nyon schools and at Nyon Hospital to better deal with complex psychosocial situations involving children and adolescents. In 1992 he contributed to the creation of a multidisciplinary consultation in paediatric neuro-rehabilitation in Nyon (PENAR) where the partnership between families and professionals is at the centre of the approach, as well as the inclusion of continuous training in the field of disability. He works in favour of children's rights among Swiss paediatricians. Since 2016, he has been president of ADIDE (association for the dictionary of children's rights).