Richard Brennan

Advisory committee member

Global Health Consultant

Rick Brennan is an emergency and public health physician with extensive experience in over 50 countries across five continents. He has held senior management positions with United Nations and non-governmental organizations in the United States, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, overseeing large international teams and major public health programmes. Most recently, he was Regional Emergency Director for WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office based in Cairo, Egypt, where his team supported 22 countries for emergency preparedness and response, including for major humanitarian crises, disease outbreaks, the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and technological emergencies.

Previously Rick spent seven years at WHO headquarters, including as Director of Emergency Operations, Director of Ebola Response and Coordination, and Director of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response.

Rick received his medical degree from the University of Sydney, completed emergency medicine training in Australia and received an MPH from Johns Hopkins University. Following 12 years of clinical work, Rick joined the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention focusing on humanitarian and emergency management issues. Thereafter he spent 10 years as Health Director of the International Rescue Committee in New York, overseeing global humanitarian health operations. Prior to joining WHO in 2012 he led a highly successful post-conflict health system rebuilding project in Liberia for JSI Research and Training.

Rick has made several important contributions to advance global health emergency preparedness and response, including leading the development of WHO’s Emergency Response Framework.