Margaret Chan

Dr Margaret Chan is the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO). She is responsible for overseeing, organising and guiding the activities of a body tasked with raising the health level of all people. The WHO influences research around the world by providing reliable statistics, raising awareness of quickly-spreading diseases, co-ordinating efforts between research groups and funding research. The WHO funds both research and data-gathering projects in the UK, such as at the George Institute in Bloomsbury.

The WHO influences pharmaceutical and non-profit R&D through the publication of the World Health Report and the International Classifcation of Diseases.

(Written by Luke Goodsell)