Dr Magda Robalo is the President and co-founder of The Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD). She is a public health physician and infectious disease expert, whose career spans for over 30 years in the global health ecosystem. She held senior leadership positions at the domestic and international level in various professional settings, working with Government, multilateral and civil society organizations. She has a track record in promoting gender equality and equitable access to quality health care, social justice, ethics and accountability.

She has solid knowledge and robust experience on a broad range of public health issues, gender equality, ethics and governance. She spearheaded various successful initiatives as former Minister of Health, High Commissioner for the COVID-19 response in Guinea-Bissau, WHO Representative, WHO Director of Communicable Diseases and as the Global Managing Director of Women in Global Health. She serves on several Boards and Councils.

She embodies a unique blend of diverse leadership experience, multi-cultural and people management skills, diplomacy, and political acumen.

Dr Magda Robalo is a medical doctor (Universidade do Porto, Portugal) with a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health and Tropical Medicine (Universidade Nova, Portugal) and a Master of Sciences degree in Epidemiology (Université Laval, Canada) and is concluding her PhD on Political Science and International Relations (Universidade Católica, Portugal). She fluently speaks and writes Portuguese, French and English.