Ala Alwan

Principal Investigator & Visiting Professor
University of Washington, Dept. of Global Health

Dr. Ala Alwan is the former Regional Director for the World Health Organization's Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO).  He is currently Principal Investigator for the Disease Control Priorities Network project and Visiting Professor at the University of Washington's Department of Global Health. Dr Alwan is a native of Iraq. From 2008 until the end of 2011, he was Assistant Director-General for Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health at WHO Headquarters, where he led WHO's work that resulted in the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011 of the Political Declaration on the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases.

Dr. Alwan graduated in Medicine from the University of Alexandria. He practiced medicine in Scotland and obtained his postgraduate training and qualifications in the United Kingdom. Following his return to Iraq, he held several positions in clinical and academic medicine and public health. He was Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Mustansiriya University, Baghdad, Iraq.

In 1992, he joined EMRO as Regional Adviser for Noncommunicable Diseases. He then served as WHO Representative in Oman, and Director, Division of Health Systems Development in EMRO. In 1998, Dr. Alwan moved to WHO headquarters as Director for Noncommunicable Diseases Prevention and then Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases Management. From 2005 to January 2008, he was Representative of the Director-General and Assistant Director-General for Health Action in Crises.

Dr. Alwan also serves as a member of the DCP3 Advisory Committee to the Editors

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