Dr Marianna Trias took up her position as WHO Representative to the Kingdom of Cambodia and Head of the WHO Country Office in Phnom Penh in January 2024. She brings three decades of global public health experience to the role, having held several senior positions at WHO country, regional and global levels.

Prior to her appointment in Cambodia, Dr Trias was the first WHO Representative to Greece where she established the country office and led complex public health programmes, including on refugee and migrant health, working across sectors at the European Union’s frontier. In her pioneering role, she facilitated transformative reforms for primary health care and mental health, and advanced emergency preparedness and response capacities while partnering with the Greek government throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Trias has previously served in the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila, Philippines (1994-2011) as Regional Adviser and Team Leader for maternal and child health and nutrition, and in the WHO Representative Office in China (2012-2015) as Senior Programme Management Officer. She has also worked to strengthen WHO’s strategic country focus while serving at WHO Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland (2015-2018) in the Department of Country Cooperation and Collaboration with the UN System.

Originally from Finland, where she received her Medical Degree, Dr Trias obtained a Master of Science in Health Systems Management from the University of London, UK in 2005.

Having first visited Cambodia in 1996, and a dozen times after in her regional role, Dr Trias is excited to return to a country that has achieved major health milestones in the decade since she worked in the region. Her substantial public health leadership and programmatic experience, combined with her enduring passion to pursue transformative and equitable health development, will help WHO support the Royal Government of Cambodia to improve the health and wellbeing of all Cambodians and achieve the country’s national targets for the Sustainable Development Goals.