Professor Ilona Kickbusch, PhD is the Founder of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where she now serves as Senior Distinguished Fellow. She is a leading voice on the political determinants of health, health promotion, global health governance, and pandemic preparedness. Over her distinguished career with the World Health Organization, she played a key role in the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and in establishing WHO’s Healthy Cities Network. She later directed the Global Health Division at Yale University School of Public Health and launched the first major Fulbright Programme on global health.

Professor Kickbusch advises governments, international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector on global health strategies and innovations. She has been actively involved in German G7 and G20 health activities and serves on several high-level commissions, including the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board and as Co-Chair of UHC2030. She is also a member of The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030: Growing Up in a Digital World.

Widely recognized for her leadership, she holds honorary positions at the University of Geneva and Charité Berlin, and heads the Digital Transformations for Health Lab. The Lancet has profiled her as a global health reformer. She has been awarded the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the WHO Medal for her contributions to global health and diplomacy. A sought-after keynote speaker and adviser, she is also strongly committed to the empowerment of women.