For the past six years, she has led the WHO’s work in HIV paediatric treatment and care, and contributed to a number of global initiatives to improve access to HIV services for children living with HIV. Martina has provided technical assistance to several countries, particularly in the African region, as well as contributed to the guidelines development processes in the areas of HIV, tuberculosis and child health.

Prior to joining WHO, she worked in Uganda and collaborated with Penta, where she further developed her research interest focused on the optimization of diagnosis and treatment of infants and children living with HIV. She obtained her MD and PhD at the University of Padua and a Master’s in Public Health in Developing Countries at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She is an infectious disease specialist and has spent more than 15 years contributing to clinical research and developing global policies on paediatric HIV. Martina Penazzato is the paediatric HIV lead for the HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programme at the World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.