Mahdi Abdelwahab, MSc, MBBCh, is a global health advisor with 10 years of expertise in topics like Health Education, Health Equity, Migrant and Refugee Health, and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights. He is currently coordinating the Course on Control Strategies for Communicable and Non Communicable Diseases, while working simultaneously as a Health Systems Strengthening Advisor. In the past few years, he worked on several project projects for different donors like the WHO, the World Bank, the European Commission, the UNICEF, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After graduating from medical school in Egypt, Mahdi moved from clinical practice to public and global health. He completed his post graduate diploma in Healthcare and Hospital Management from the American University in Cairo, Masters of Science in International Health from KIT and the Vrije University of Amsterdam. He approaches strengthening health systems, health promotion, and working on stronger disease prevention and control as the dam that can stop the flood higher upstream rather than waiting to deal with its consequences in the valley.

Mahdi’s varied backgrounds and expertise in different disciplines such as medicine, management, education, and social sciences, wide experience with different organisations and networks in Egypt and the Netherlands, and his entrepreneurial spirit allow him to find creative connections and opportunities for solutions and collaboration. This is reflected on his work approaches including interdisciplinary and systems thinking, Capacity Development and innovation in health financing and Digital Health.

After working on the Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health for many years, Mahdi realised that economics and policy play a huge role in shaping the environment for a well functioning and equitable health system. That is why, he is additionally an aspiring health economist, currently working on finishing his Executive Masters of Science in Health Economics, Policy, and Management from London School of Economics and Political Sciences. In the meanwhile, he has already been contributing to different assignments regarding health financing and policy.