Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin is a member of the Center’s External Advisory Board. She served as the Minister of Health of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Previously, she served as State Minister of Health and led the implementation of the national health programs as part of the Health Sector Transformation Strategy. Tadesse’s global work focuses on strengthening and reforming health systems, responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, advocacy for gender equity, and equitable access to quality health services and training.

Before she served as Minister of Health, Tadesse was CEO and Vice Provost of St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical College in Addis Ababa, leading the hospital’s services and academic reforms, and building collaborative relationships with national and international stakeholders. She was also Project Director of USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) at Jhpiego-Ethiopia. Tadesse worked as Program Director at the University of Michigan’s Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT), where she established partnerships with several institutions in Ethiopia and Rwanda aimed at improving the quality of reproductive health training and services.