Dr. Richard John Brennan

Rick Brennan is an emergency and public health physician specializing in humanitarian assistance, health security, and emergency management. He has extensive experience in over 50 countries across five continents, most recently as Regional Emergency Director for the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, based in Cairo, Egypt.

Previously, Rick served at WHO headquarters in Geneva as Director of Emergency Operations. He has responded to many of the largest emergencies of recent decades, including conflicts (e.g. DR Congo, Syria), pandemics and outbreaks (e.g. COVID-19, Ebola), and natural disasters (e.g. Asian tsunami, Nepal earthquake).

Before joining WHO, Rick led the Rebuilding Basic Health Services for JSI Research and Training in Liberia. From 1999 to 2009, he was Director of Health Programs at the International Rescue Committee in New York. At the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta and Honolulu), he worked on humanitarian action and civil-military cooperation.

Rick obtained his medical degree from the University of Sydney and his MPH from Johns Hopkins University. He completed emergency medicine training at Westmead Hospital in Sydney.

Rick retired from WHO in 2025 and now works in consulting, academia, and advocacy. He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. He has published extensively on humanitarian and health security issues, with a recent focus on protecting health care in conflict. He was the lead author of the joint WHO-WISH report ""In the Line of Fire: Protecting Health Care from the Impact of Conflict"", published in 2024.