Dr John-Arne Røttingen is joining Wellcome as Chief Executive Officer. He will lead the charitable foundation’s commitment to spending £16 billion by 2032 on science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone.
John-Arne, a medical scientist, public health official, diplomat, and research administrator, will take up the post in January 2024. Currently Ambassador for Global Health at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his native Norway, he succeeds Sir Jeremy Farrar as head of Wellcome.
John-Arne has previously worked closely with Wellcome in multiple roles, including as founding CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), which Wellcome helped to launch in 2017, and as CEO of the Research Council of Norway, where he worked with Wellcome and European funders to accelerate open access to research publishing.
He began his career in basic discovery research, focusing on cellular calcium signaling, and trained as a medical doctor before transitioning to infectious disease epidemiology and global health.
Wellcome believes in the power of science to build a healthier future for everyone, and that science delivers the greatest change through collaborative action across society. It has committed to spending £16 billion on science over the decade to 2032. Furthermore, Wellcome is focusing the research spend and advocacy on four programs: supporting discovery research, and science-based solutions to tackle the most urgent health challenges of time, mental health, infectious disease, and the health impacts of the climate crisis.
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