Making the World Safe from the Threats of Emerging Infectious Diseases
The Global Fund - "I am relatively new to the world of global health, having spent most of my career in business and finance. Yet starting in 2015, I spent a good portion of my time at Harvard working on issues relating global health security with the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and with the World Bank. And with my new role as Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the career switch is complete – from banking to global health in under three years! (From a speech delivered at the Prince Mahidol Award Conference in Bangkok, Thailand on 1 February, 2018)
This background brings advantages and disadvantages. The obvious disadvantage is that I have much to learn, about the pathogens themselves, about prophylactic and therapeutic strategies, and about the intricacies of global health institutions and mechanisms. The advantage is that I can bring a fresh perspective, ask the stupid questions and can help connect the world of global health with the worlds of business and finance – a connection that often seems quite flimsy and rife with suspicion and misunderstandings."