Dr. Ann Aerts has been Head of the Novartis Foundation since January 2013, where she has played a key role in devising new policy recommendations. She has the exciting responsibility of heading an organization committed to exploring innovative solutions to public health problems. The Novartis Foundation has the challenging goals of expanding access to quality healthcare and eliminating diseases such as leprosy and malaria.Before her current role, Ann was Franchise Medical Director Critical Care for Novartis Pharma in Basel and Therapeutic Area Head Cardiovascular and Metabolism in Novartis Pharma Belgium.

Prior to joining Novartis, she served as Director of the Lung and Tuberculosis Association in Belgium, as Head of the Health Services Department of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva and was Health Coordinator for the ICRC in several countries.

Ann holds a Degree in Medicine and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Leuven, Belgium, as well as a Degree in Tropical Medicine from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. In July 2014, Ann was nominated by PharmaVOICE as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in the life science industry. Ann has authored numerous publications and is a member of the Advisory Boards of the Global Health Group of University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the Center for Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability of the University of Zürich, the OECD Network of Foundations Working in Development (NetFWD), the One Million Community Health Workers Campaign, the World Economic Forum Health Systems Leapfrogging project in Emerging Economies Steering Board, and a Member of the ITU/UNESCO Broadband Commission for Digital Development.