International President, Medecins Sans Frontieres
Dr. Joanne Liu was elected International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in 2013. She trained at McGill University School of Medicine and specialized in pediatrics at Sainte-Justine hospital, Montréal. An associate professor at the Université de Montréal and a professor in practice at McGill, she holds a fellowship in pediatric emergency medicine from New York University School of Medicine and an International Master’s in Health Leadership from McGill. She began MSF field work in 1996 and has undertaken over twenty missions since, in Central Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East. Her operational contributions range from introducing comprehensive medical care for survivors of sexual violence to developing a telemedicine platform connecting physicians in remote sites with medical specialists worldwide. A staunch advocate of anchoring MSF’s identity in field based, quality-driven patient care, she seeks to introduce the same focus into the global health arena. She has received many awards, including the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada’s Teasdale-Corti Humanitarian Award 2013 and Officer of the Government of Quebec 2015.
