From October 2011 until June 2016, Roberto Bertollini, M.D., M.P.H. was WHO Representative to the EU in Brussels and Chief Scientist of the WHO Regional Office for Europe. Before this assignment, he occupied senior management positions in WHO both at the Regional Office for Europe and at the Headquarters in Geneva.
Presently, he is Advisor for Public Health to the Minister of Health of Qatar. In this capacity he has been heavily involved in the Qatar response to the Covid-19 epidemic and chaired the Scientific Reference and Research Task Force to provide scientific evidence for the public health response. In addition, he is Visiting Professor for Public Health and Environmental Health at Lisbon University, as well as Member of the Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks of the European Commission.
His main professional interests concern the determinants on non-communicable diseases, with special reference to the effects of emerging environmental threats such as climate change and air pollution, health effects of lifestyle and socioeconomic determinants including tobacco, alcohol and nutrition. He is also involved in the translation of research findings for public health policy development and in the implementation and evaluation of public health programmes and practices.
