Our Team

Katherine DeLand, JD, MPH

Katherine DeLand founded DeLand Associates in 2011 to fill a growing niche for independent, flexible, highly trained and responsive consulting, advising and project management in international law, health and public policy. She focuses on multilateral negotiations, large-scale public health project management and donor relationships, and sustainable health and development policy design and implementation. She has worked in Switzerland, Kenya, Australia and the United States for organizations as diverse as the World Health Organization, the L’Etwal Foundation, the World Bank, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the University of Sydney. She holds degrees in law, public health and biochemistry.

 

Gemma Lien, LLM, MA

Gemma Lien is an international lawyer who focuses on humanitarian and public law. Her prior experience includes time as a staff lawyer with the Convention Secretariat, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; consultant for the World Health Organization; and illegal-drug-use trend analyst with the Merseyside Police Department (UK). She has coordinated multilateral working groups and negotiations, drafted national legislation and policy and liaised with government ministries, diplomatic missions and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations. She is leading the international law division of DeLand Associates and holds advanced degrees in international relations and public international law.

 

Candice Pillion, JD

Candice Pillion is a lawyer with experience as a legal clerk for the World Health Organization’s Tobacco-Free Initiative; as a part of the legal support team on the negotiation of a protocol on illegal trade in tobacco products to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control; as an intern on plea bargaining and election law reform with Transparency International, Georgia; as a clerk with the U.S. Federal District Court in Los Angeles; and as a volunteer for multiple providers of legal assistance to poor and underserved populations. She holds an advanced degree in law.

 

Maria Cardines, MA

Mariarosaria Cardines is a gender adviser, specialized in the design, monitoring and evaluation of gender-related projects and programs. She has 20 years’ professional experience at the headquarters and field offices of several United Nations agencies (UNIDO, UNIFEM, ILO, WHO) and international nongovernmental organizations (1% for Development Fund, China-Europa Forum), where she has worked as project manager, evaluator, workshop facilitator, researcher and writer. Her areas of expertise include women’s economic empowerment, labor migration, gender-based violence, particularly trafficking, and public health information. She holds an advanced degree in Asian Studies (international relations and development).

 

Priyanka Dahiya, LLM

Priyanka Dahiya is a lawyer trained in international law and human rights. She has worked as a Legal Officer with the Indian NGO HRIDAY, in partnership with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, on the Bloomberg Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which aims to build legal capacity for tobacco control in India. She has hands-on experience with various nonprofit organizations and government bodies and courts in India and has also worked at the International Criminal Court at the Hague as a pro bono member of the defense team on cases regarding Kenya and Darfur. Her areas of expertise include tobacco control, public health law and international law. She holds an advanced degree in law.