Marijke Wijnroks, MD
Marijke Wijnroks became Chief of Staff at the Global Fund in 2013. From June 2017 through February 2018, she served as Interim Executive Director. Her distinguished career includes more than 30 years of experience in global health and development, serving in government, at the United Nations and in civil society, and working in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
Since joining the Global Fund, Dr. Wijnroks has had a particular focus on gender and human rights, and on engaging diverse partners in the cause of global health. She effectively acts as the organization’s second-in-command, overseeing day-to-day work and chairing decision-making groups such as the Management Executive Committee and the Grant Approvals Committee when needed.
Before joining the Global Fund, Dr. Wijnroks was Ambassador for HIV/AIDS, and Deputy Director of the Social Development Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Netherlands. In that position she oversaw policy and strategy development in areas related to HIV and AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender, education and civil society. She served on the Global Fund Board for several terms, and for two years as Vice-Chair of the Board’s Ethics Committee.
She earned a medical degree from Maastricht University in the Netherlands and a degree in tropical health and medicine from the Institute for Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. Dr. Wijnroks started her career with Médecins Sans Frontières as a field doctor in Sudan. She also spent five years in El Salvador as a technical adviser for PAHO/WHO developing health systems, and two years as a project manager in Bangladesh focusing on maternal and child health.
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