Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny is currently Director of Research at Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale) in Paris, where she assists the President on international cooperation. Until June 2017, she served as the Assistant Director-General for Health Systems and Innovation at the World Health Organization. Dr. Kieny also directed the WHO Initiative for Vaccine Research from 2001 to 2010. Before joining WHO, Dr. Kieny held top research positions in the public and private sectors in France which included Assistant Scientific Director of Transgene S.A. from 1981 to 1988 and Director of Research and Head of the Hepatitis C Virus Molecular Virology Group at the Institute of Virology, (Inserm) from 1999 to 2000. Dr. Kieny received her PhD in Microbiology (1980) and University Diploma in Economics from the University of Montpelier; Diplôme d’Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches from the University of Strasbourg in 1995. She has published over 350 articles and reviews, mainly in the areas of infectious diseases, immunology, vaccinology and health systems.