Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director
Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director
Vision
Reduced morbidity and mortality due to emergencies across the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Mission
WHO is committed to saving lives and reducing suffering during times of crisis – whether caused by conflict, disease outbreak or a disaster. The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is fully active across all phases of the emergency management cycle - supporting countries to prevent and prepare for health emergencies before they happen; contributing to the response to emergencies, both technically and operationally; and also, once the initial event has passed, helping to advance recovery of the health system.
Biography
Rick Brennan is Regional Emergency Director for WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, based in Cairo, Egypt. Previously, he had spent 7 years at WHO headquarters as Director of Emergency Operations, Director of Ebola Coordination and Response, and Director of Emergency Risk Management and Humanitarian Response.
Rick has extensive experience in health emergencies and humanitarian settings in over 35 countries across Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. He received his medical degree from the University of Sydney and undertook emergency medicine training in Australia, followed by a clinical and research fellowship in the United States. After receiving a Masters of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University, he worked with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on humanitarian, chem-bio-nuclear and civil-military issues. Thereafter, Rick spent 10 years as the Health Director of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in New York, overseeing technical support to humanitarian programmes world-wide. Immediately prior to joining WHO, he spent 2-and-a-half years with JSI Research and Training in Liberia, managing a large post-conflict health system reconstruction project.
