Josep Figueras, Director

Josep Figueras, MD, MPH, PhD (econ), FFPH is the Director and cofounder of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. In addition to WHO, he has served major multilateral agencies such as the European Commission or the World Bank and has worked as policy advisor in more than forty countries within the European region and beyond.

He is Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Monti Commission, and member of several governing, advisory and editorial boards including the governance board of the European Health Forum Gastein. He is honorary fellow of the UK faculty of public health, received the Andrija Stampar Medal for excellence in Public Health and a Doctorate Honoris Causa from Semmelweis University; and he has three times been awarded the EHMA prize for best annual publication. He is currently visiting professor at the London School of Economics, and external examiner at London, Maastricht University. He was director of the MSc in Health Services Management and lecturer at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. He started his career as specialist in Family and Community medicine in Spain.  

His research focuses on comparative health system and policy analysis and is editor of several publication series in the field including the European Observatory series published by Open University Press and (since 2019) by Cambridge University Press.