Dr Téa Collins is a physician with over 25 years of experience in global health and development. As a senior expert at the Global NCD Platform in the Office of the WHO Deputy Director-General, Dr Collins provides technical guidance and oversees strategic high-profile projects focusing on capacity building, development cooperation and healthcare financing, health systems strengthening, maternal and child health and NCDs, multistakeholder engagement, and implementation research. Dr Collins came to WHO from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), where she provided technical advice and expertise on matters related to comprehensive cancer care and control to the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT). Prior to IAEA, Dr Collins advised the World Medical Association (WMA) on global health issues of concern to the medical profession in collaboration with the WHO Global Health Workforce Alliance. She also served as the first Executive Director of the NCD Alliance, a partnership of over 2,000 member organizations in 170 countries with a mission to combat the NCD epidemic by putting health at the center of all policies. Dr Collins started her public health career in the national Ministry of Health in Georgia. Later she managed the large-scale World Bank Health Reform and USAID-supported projects with a focus on internally displaced populations. Her academic work at George Washington University in Washington, DC, USA included developing and teaching graduate courses and conducting research and consulting assignments with organizations such as John Snow, Inc., the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the National Council on Hispanic Ageing. Dr Collins is a pediatrician with a Doctorate in Global Health from George Washington University, as well as a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. Dr Collins was a Public Service Fellow and Presidential Scholar at Harvard and served on the Board of Directors of the Kennedy School Alumni Association.
