Frédérique Santerre

Frédérique Santerre is Global Head of Access to Health, responsible for establishing a new crossfunctional unit and leading global health and innovative access programs and initiatives internationally at Merck Group. She is in charge of CEO and senior management leadership engagement in global health and is responsible for the company’s representation and activities at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), the Gates CEO Roundtable for Global Health and with global health stakeholders (e.g. UN, WHO, Global Fund, funders and philanthropies, NGOs, academia, think tanks and patients) on global health and access-related issues. In her previous position, as Head of Global Government Affairs and Health Policy, she was responsible for government affairs and public policy globally for Merck Serono, the pharmaceutical division of the Merck Group. She joined Merck Serono in 2010 as Director, Global Health Policy and Patient Advocacy, operating globally (ex-USA). Prior to her arrival at Merck Serono, she was Director of the Health Care Systems & Global Health Policy at the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA). She also held various positions in international organisations (e.g. the World Health Organisation), in academia (e.g. Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, MA) and in nongovernmental organizations (e.g. the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and Médecins du Monde). In addition, she worked for the World Economic Forum (Davos). As a post-doctoral Research Fellow and Faculty member at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in the Science, Technology and Society Program in Cambridge, MA, she ran two multidisciplinary research projects on biotechnology regulation as well as provided mentorship to doctoral students. In parallel, she ran global health and public-private partnership consultancies with UN organisations. Frédérique Santerre was born in Paris, France, and obtained a degree in economics from the Sorbonne University, master degrees in comparative politics from Glasgow University and in international relations from Geneva Graduate Institute, and her Ph.D. in International Relations from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies. Her doctoral dissertation was on the global governance of biotechnology.