Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin, MD

Lia Tadesse Gebremedhin is currently the Executive Director of the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program and a Professor of the Practice of Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Lia served as the Minister of Health of Ethiopia from March 2020 to February 2024 after serving as State Minister of Health from November 2018. As a Minister, she spearheaded the COVID pandemic response and helped her country navigate the pandemic with resilience. Before that, she served as Program Director at the University of Michigan’s Center for International Reproductive Health Training (CIRHT). She was also the Project Director of USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) at Jhpiego-Ethiopia and CEO and Vice Provost of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in Addis Ababa, where she led hospital service and academic reforms.

Lia is passionate about strengthening and reforming health systems and has received several recognitions for her accomplishments in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, advocating for gender equity, and access to quality health services and training. She has published over 40 articles, commentaries, and papers.

During her tenure as Minister, Lia served as co-chair of the COVAX AMC Engagement Group, co-chair of the Global Financing Facility (GFF) Investors Group, Vice Chair of the Africa CDC, and a member of the Gavi Board and the WHO Executive Board.

She currently serves on the board of Directors of JSI and Resolve to Save Lives, as a Commissioner in the Lancet Commission of Investing in Health, and serves on various Advisory boards including the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, the Center for Global Health Equity at the University of Michigan, the Advisory board for the Lancet Commission on Evidence-Based Implementation in Global Health, and the Global Advisory Board for the QuEST Network at Harvard T. Chan School of Public Health.

She earned her medical degree from Jimma University, specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Addis Ababa University, and a master’s degree in health care administration from Jimma University.