Lieve Fransen

Lieve Fransen, MD, PhD is, since 2007, the Director of the Representations Directorate (Directorate B) in Directorate-General Communication for the European Commission. She is responsible for the 35 Representations of the Commission to the member states and for more than 500 networks across the European Union and is responsible for strategic leadership and management of 500 staff in 27 different locations.

She started her career as a Medical Doctor in Africa during the 1970s and 1980s (mainly in Mozambique, Kenya and Rwanda). In several African countries she developed new initiatives and ensured implementation through international cooperation and strategic planning. In 1987 she created the AIDS Task Force, an international foundation where she was executive director until 1993.

In 1993 she joined the European Commission as the Head of the Health, AIDS and Population Sector. She was in charge of negotiating tiered pricing for pharmaceutical products for developing countries. During this period, she was also the guest editor for the Policy Research Department of the World Bank. In 2001 she became the Head of the Social and Human Development Unit in Directorate-General for Development in charge of social protection, employment, health, education and gender.

She was a founding board member and vice-chair of the Board of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) representing the European Commission and several EU member states from 2000 to 2007, where she helped create a large public/private partnership and performance-based fund (8 billion pledges in 4 years).

She has written more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and numerous policy documents for the European Council and the European Parliament. She holds a PhD from the University of Antwerp in social policies and public health. She was awarded the National Order of the Lion of the Republic of Senegal (1999) for special merit in the fight against HIV/AIDS and she received the Jonathan Mann Award for Health and Human Rights (2000).