CEPI appoints Aurélia Nguyen as Deputy CEO

OSLO, 26 Jul – Global health expert Aurélia Nguyen has been appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CEPI, the global organisation working to accelerate the development of vaccines against epidemic and pandemic threats and make them accessible to populations in need.

Aurélia joins CEPI from Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance – where she held roles including Chief Programme Officer and Managing Director of the Covax Facility. Aurélia has a proven track record in driving the design of vaccine programmes and delivery of new vaccines as well as extensive leadership experience with a particular focus on gender and diversity.

In her new role as Deputy CEO she will support CEPI CEO Dr Richard Hatchett and the CEPI team in advancing CEPI’s five-year strategy, known as CEPI 2.0, which will help Prepare, Transform and Connect the world so that it can respond to the next Disease X threat in as little as 100 days.

Welcoming Aurélia to the new role Dr Richard Hatchett, CEO of CEPI, said: “I am delighted that Aurélia will be joining us as CEPI’s new Deputy CEO. Aurélia has always been an incredible partner to CEPI and has an impressive track record both in leading teams and in delivering ambitious plans to improve access to vaccines. She brings both a wealth of experience from her career in the multilateral and private sectors and fresh thinking to what is going to be a critical role at CEPI”.

Aurélia Nguyen said: “I have spent many wonderful years at Gavi, and it feels very fitting that my next challenge is with CEPI - an organisation I know well, and which is so well aligned to the work I have done throughout my career of increasing equity through access to life-saving products. It really is a privilege to be joining such a talented and dedicated team  at what I believe is a critical time in CEPI’s development, and I am looking forward immensely to getting started. It has been an honour to work at Gavi, and I hope to remain a champion and further Gavi and CEPI’s shared goal to protect people’s health with vaccines in this new role.” 

Aurélia Nguyen takes over the position from Dr Frederik Kristensen who is now Managing Director of the Regional Vaccine Manufacturing Collaborative (RVMC). She will assume her role on October 1.

Today, CEPI also announced further organisational updates to strengthen CEPI’s Executive Leadership Team. 

On August 6, Kent Kester will join CEPI as Executive Director of Vaccine R&D (VRD), assuming responsibility for CEPI’s scientific programmes to accelerate the development of novel countermeasures and rapid response vaccine platforms against emerging infectious disease threats. He comes to CEPI from IAVI, where he served as the Vice President of Translational Medicine. Previously, he served as Vice President and Head of Translational Science and Biomarkers at Sanofi Pasteur, as Commander at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and as the Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).

Rachel Grant, CEPI’s Executive Director of Communications and Advocacy, will fill the newly created role of Executive Director of External and Investor Relations (EIR), overseeing the work of CEPI’s Communications & Advocacy, Resource Mobilisation & Investor Relations, Policy, and Public Partnerships Teams.  Emma Wheatley, currently Director of the Access & Private Partnerships Department, will become Executive Director of the new Access and Business Development Division. Upon the consolidation of existing Divisions into EIR, Samia Saad, currently Executive Director for Resource Mobilization & Investor Relations, will take up a new role as Senior Advisor and Sherpa to the CEO.

-ENDS-

About CEPI 

CEPI is an innovative partnership between public, private, philanthropic and civil organisations. Its mission is to accelerate the development of vaccines and other biologic countermeasures against epidemic and pandemic threats so they can be accessible to all people in need. CEPI has supported the development of more than 50 vaccine candidates or platform technologies against multiple known high-risk pathogens or a future Disease X. Central to CEPI’s pandemic-beating five-year plan for 2022-2026 is the ‘100 Days Mission’ to compress the time taken to develop safe, effective, globally accessible vaccines against new threats to just 100 days.