Awa Marie Coll-Seck

Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, MD, PhD is a Senegalese infectious diseases and bacteriology-virology specialist. She was born May 1st, 1951 in Dakar, Senegal.¹⁾

Coll-Seck graduated with her degree in Medicine at the University of Dakar in Senegal in 1978, and earned her Master of Sciences qualification at Cheikh Anta Diop University.²⁾

In 1989, she was appointed Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Dakar and Chief of Service for Infectious Diseases at the University Hospital in Dakar.³⁾

From 1996 to 2001, she served as Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Department of Country and Regional Support.⁴⁾

From 2001-2003, Coll Seck served as the Minister of Health and Prevention of the Republic of Senegal.⁵⁾

She was elected as chairperson of Committee B of the World Health Assembly and also as president of the Assembly of the Ministries of Health of the West African Health Organization in 2002.⁶⁾

In 2003, Coll-Seck was appointed by Kofi Annan to the Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa.⁷⁾

From 2004 to 2011 she was Executive Director of the Roll Back Malaria Partnership.⁸⁾

Coll-Seck was the Chair of the Medicines for Malaria Venture's Access and Delivery Advisory Committee (ADAC) from 2007 to 2010. She went on to be a proactive member of MMV’s Board of Directors from 2011 to 2012.⁹⁾

She then returned as the Minister of Health and Social Action from 2012-2017 of the Republic of Senegal. She was appointed as the Minister of State in 2017, serving until 2019.¹⁰⁾

In 2014, Coll-Seck founded the Afrivac Foundation, described as the “Public-Private Partnership for Immunization in Africa”.¹¹⁾ She was also a speaker at the Women Deliver 4th Global Conference, which was sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Affairs Canada, Pfizer, the World Bank, and many other entities of interest.^{12) 13)}

On January 19, 2017, Coll-Seck participated in an event called “The Next Frontier in Global Financing: High-Impact Solutions for Women and Children” in Davos, Switzerland.¹⁴⁾ The event also featured Bill Gates as a speaker, and was sponsored by the Global Financing Facility, World Bank Group, and Merck.

From 2016-2018, Coll-Seck served as a board member for the African Constituency Bureau.¹⁵⁾ On January 24, 2018, Coll-Seck was announced as a new member of the board of directors for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).¹⁶⁾

Coll-Seck was appointed the Chair of the National Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative on April 8, 2019.¹⁷⁾ She was a speaker at the 2021 Africa Health Agenda International Conference.¹⁸⁾ Her presentation was hosted by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), and was co-sponsored by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Global Innovation Policy Center (GIPC), and the Innovation Council.

In January 2021, the Government of Canada announced the appointment of Coll-Seck to the Board of Directors of Grand Challenges Canada.¹⁹⁾

In August 2021, as a part of the International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development, she called on Africa's governments to increase funding for scientific research in the continent so as to reduce scientific dependancy on the West.²⁰⁾ On October 26, 2021, she participated in an event titled “Investing in Women’s Health – the Key to Africa’s Recovery” hosted by the Global Perspectives Initiative (GPI) and the Global Financing Facility.²¹⁾

Coll-Seck has served as a member of the Africa Research Excellence Fund Board.²²⁾

Coll-Seck is a member of the Scientific Council of Cheick Zaïd University in Morocco.²³⁾

Coll-Seck has served as a member of the board of directors for the Clinton Health Access Initiative.²⁴⁾

Coll-Seck is a member of the EVE Programme.²⁵⁾

Coll-Seck has participated on the High Level Steering Group for Every Woman Every Child.²⁶⁾

Coll-Seck was a speaker at a 2012 Falling Walls event.²⁷⁾

Coll-Seck is a member of the Family Planning 2020 Reference Group.²⁸⁾

Coll-Seck is the chair of the Scientific Committee for Galien Forum Africa.^{29) 30)}

Coll-Seck is a member of the board for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.³¹⁾

Coll-Seck is a member of the Global Financing Facility's Investor Group.³²⁾

Coll-Seck has served on the board of the Global Fund.³³⁾

Coll-Seck participated as a member of the Guttmacher-Lancet Commission on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights.³⁴⁾

Coll-Seck is a member of the Advisory Board for the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Program.³⁵⁾

Coll-Seck previously acted as the Executive Director of the Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC).³⁶⁾

Coll-Seck was formerly a member of the board of directors for PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health).³⁷⁾

Coll-Seck has served as a member of the board of directors for the RBM Partnership to End Malaria.³⁸⁾

Coll-Seck is a director at Resolve to Save Lives.³⁹⁾

Coll-Seck is a champion of SpeakUpAfrica.⁴⁰⁾

Coll-Seck is an agenda contributor for the World Economic Forum.⁴¹⁾ In January 2014, she co-authored an article alongside fellow Gavi board member Dagfinn Høybråten titled “How businesses can boost global health.”⁴²⁾ The article has been “memory holed” from the WEF website, but is still available in archived form. In the article, the pair called on the business leaders at Davos to turn their focus to global health. They argue that vaccines provide a tremendous return on investment, echoing similar comments made by Seth Berkley and Bill Gates.

Coll-Seck is a member of the World Health Organization Advisory Group on the Ebola Virus Disease Response.⁴³⁾

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