On November 30th, we welcomed Dr. Osamu Kunii to our 46th Find-Your-Role-Model session. Dr. Kunii graduated from Jichi Medical University and received a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Public Health (MPH) from the Harvard School of Public Health. Through his work at the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia, and with national universities, and international NGOs, Dr. Kunii has visited over 110 countries to assist with emergency relief, infectious diseases control, maternal and child health projects, and health policy and planning among many other gallant efforts. He now leads the Strategy Investment and Impact Division at the Global Fund (https://www.theglobalfund.org).

This session focused on Dr. Kunii’s path into the field of global health, as well as his experiences working with grassroots level communities and governments. He spoke of the importance of pinpointing the distal causes of poor health in low-resource countries, in addition to building trusting relationships with multisector partners.

When Dr. Kunii realized that he could save more lives without practicing medicine, he moved to the Global Fund, where he now fights to end infectious disease epidemics by 2030. Although we face challenges of poverty, conflict, epidemics, refugees, and global warming, he encouraged us to think about how we can each contribute, and to passionately seek out what role we can play in addressing these issues.