Speak with our experts

Our foundation works with partners, grantees, and governments in 144 countries on urgent issues in global health and development. Our program leaders and other experts can offer perspective and background to members of the media on a wide range of topics, including development policy and finance, gender equality, climate adaptation, food and nutrition security, financial inclusion, global health R&D, infectious diseases, immunization, and U.S. education. The individuals listed below represent a sample—not a comprehensive list—of foundation experts that members of the media can connect with on relevant topics.

To inquire about speaking with any of them, or with our experts in related areas and/or in specific places (sub-Saharan Africa, China and other East Asian countries, India, Europe, the Middle East, or North America), please contact us at [email protected].

Gargee Ghosh, President, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2019 ©Gates Archive/Martina Machackova
Gargee Ghosh, President, Global Policy & Advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2019. ©Gates Archive/Martina Machackova
Global Policy & Advocacy Division

Global Policy & Advocacy Division

Topics:

  • Development finance and policy (including multilateral development bank reform, debt solutions for low-income countries)
  • Women’s economic empowerment

Experts:

  • Gargee Ghosh, President, Global Policy & Advocacy
  • Archna Vyas, Director, Program Advocacy and Communications: Growth, Opportunity and Empowerment
  • Kalpana Kochhar, Director, Development Policy & Finance
  • Alaa Murabit, Director, Program Advocacy and Communications, Health
Gender Equality Division

Gender Equality Division

Topics:

  • Women’s economic empowerment (including data and evidence, women’s role in economic recovery, gender-inclusive economic policy)
  • Women’s leadership
  • Family planning
  • Maternal, newborn and child health (including R&D)

Experts:

Global Growth & Opportunity Division

Global Growth & Opportunity Division

Topics:

  • Climate adaptation (including innovations for smallholder farmers, food and nutrition security, climate financing)
  • Nutrition (including investments in the microbiome)
  • Digital public infrastructure (for economic inclusion and to spur global economic recovery)

Experts:

  • Rodger Voorhies, President, Global Growth & Opportunity
  • Enock Chikava, Interim Director, Agricultural Development
  • Shelly Sundberg, Acting Deputy Director, Nutritious Food Systems & Women’s Empowerment, Agricultural Development (focus: nutrition in food and social protection systems)
  • Michael Wiegand, Director, Financial Services for the Poor
  • Konstantin Peric, Deputy Director, Financial Services for the Poor (focus: digital platforms)
Global Health Division

Global Health Division

Topics:

  • Upstream R&D to address infectious diseases (including investments in monoclonal antibodies, mRNA vaccines, next-generation diagnostics, antiviral drugs, easier-to-administer drug regimens, and gene therapies)
  • Surveillance of infectious diseases (including environmental and genomic surveillance)
  • Artificial intelligence to transform global health and development
  • Grand Challenges grants to spur transformative solutions to urgent global health and development problems

Experts:

  • Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health
  • Philip Welkhoff, Director, Malaria
  • Jennifer Gardy, Deputy Director, Malaria (focus: surveillance, data, epidemiology)
  • Nina Russell, Director, Tuberculosis and HIV Prevention
  • Puneet Dewan, Senior Program Officer, Tuberculosis (focus: tools and strategies)
  • Peter Dull, Deputy Director, Vaccine Development & Surveillance (focus: clinical evaluation, HPV)
  • Katey Einterz Owen, Director, Vaccine Development and Neglected Tropical Diseases
  • Karen Heichman, Deputy Director, Diagnostics
  • Ken Duncan, Deputy Director, Discovery & Translational Sciences (focus: drug discovery)
  • Keith Klugman, Director, Pneumonia (focus includes maternal immunization for GBS and RSV)
  • Padmini Srikantiah, Deputy Director, Pneumonia (focus: RSV)
  • Jacqueline Kirchner, Senior Program Officer (focus: monoclonal antibodies)
  • Zameer Brey, Deputy Director, Technology Diffusion (focus: artificial intelligence, large language models)
Global Development Division

Global Development Division

Topics:

  • Polio eradication and surveillance (including nOPV2 vaccine development and delivery)
  • Vaccine delivery for routine immunization
  • Partnerships with multilateral organizations (Gavi, The Global Fund, GPEI, GFF, CEPI)
  • Pandemic preparedness and emergency response (including development of a Global Health Emergency Corps)

Experts:

U.S. Programs Division

U.S. Programs Division

Topics:

  • U.S. education (including addressing the math achievement gap and barriers to college attendance)
  • Economic mobility and opportunity

Experts:

Learn more from our experts

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WATCH: The only tuberculosis vaccine is a century old. New innovations are around the corner. 

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Monoclonal antibodies were effective in treating COVID-19. They can do more.

Monoclonal antibodies offer promise well beyond treating COVID-19 as a potential game changer in fighting malaria, HIV, and other infectious diseases.
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