Maria P. Neira has been directing the Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Health at the World Health Organization since September 2005. She has led and advised on policy and management in key areas of environmental health. Before that, she served as under-secretary of health and president at the Spanish Food Safety Agency. From 1993-1998 she was coordinator of the Global Task Force on Cholera Control. Dr. Neira began her career as a medical coordinator working with refugees in El Salvador and Honduras for Médecins Sans Frontières. She then spent several years working in different African countries during armed conflicts.