Susan Mercado is a medical doctor and public health expert with over 30 years of experience in national and international public health systems. She is a recognized woman leader for transformative public health through her engagement in media, civil society, and humanitarian action. In the past 15 years, she had a distinguished career with the World Health Organization (WHO), where she led the response to some of the most complex challenges of public health today. From 2013 to 2015, she was the first Director of the Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Health through the Life-Course, WHO Western Pacific Regional Office. In 2017, she was named a Distinguished Alumni in Global Health by the University of the Philippines (UP). She was also recognized as one of the 100 most influential Filipina women in world in the category of Innovator and Thought Leader by the US-based Filipina Women’s Network in 2018. Recently, she was designated as Special Envoy of the President for Global Health Initiatives. Mercado has an AB Philosophy (magna cum laude), Doctor of Medicine, and Master of Public Health degrees from UP.