A public health leader with a quarter-century of global experience has stepped into a key regional leadership role for the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization, taking on the position of PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean. Dr. Eva Jané Llopis, whose career spans academic, intergovernmental, and policy sectors across Europe and the Americas, officially began her new assignment this month, bringing a diverse skill set tailored to address the region’s most pressing health challenges.
Per an official press statement from PAHO, Dr. Jané Llopis’s core mandate will center on leading the organization’s technical collaborative work with governments, health ministries, and cross-sector partners across 13 jurisdictions in the region. Her coverage area includes Barbados, the six independent member states of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines), three British overseas territories (Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, and Montserrat), and four French Caribbean territorial departments: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Saint Martin.
In remarks following her appointment, Dr. Jané Llopis called the new role a distinct professional privilege. “It is a privilege to begin this new assignment and to work alongside the governments and people of Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries,” she said, noting that she plans to prioritize collaborative problem-solving by first listening to local stakeholders, building on longstanding successful partnerships, and supporting regional efforts to develop health systems that are resilient, equitable, and centered on patient and community needs.
Dr. Jané Llopis brings a rich and varied professional background to the post. Before moving to the Eastern Caribbean assignment, she served as PAHO/WHO Representative in Argentina starting in 2021, where she coordinated closely with Argentina’s national Ministry of Health and health leaders across all 24 of the country’s subnational jurisdictions. Prior to that role, she held senior leadership positions across PAHO, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and the European Commission, and served as Director of Health Programs at the World Economic Forum. Her academic credentials include an appointment as a professor at Maastricht University and a role as Director of Health and Sustainable Development at ESADE Business School.
A citizen of Spain, Dr. Jané Llopis holds a PhD in Social Sciences from Nijmegen University in the Netherlands and an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Barcelona. She also completed an Executive Master’s in Global Leadership, alongside executive education programs at top global business institutions INSEAD and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Over her career, she has published more than 100 peer-reviewed and scientific works, with research and applied work focusing on primary health care, noncommunicable disease prevention and control, mental health systems, health governance, public-private collaboration for health, and sustainable development across European and Latin American contexts.
Dr. Jané Llopis succeeds outgoing representative Dr. Amalia Del Riego, who retired from PAHO/WHO in June 2026. Dr. Prabhjot Singh stepped in to serve as interim representative during the leadership transition period.
Her appointment aligns with PAHO/WHO’s ongoing commitment to supporting Eastern Caribbean nations on a wide range of public health priorities. The organization currently provides technical and operational support to the region in key areas including expanding access to high-quality primary health care, strengthening health security and emergency preparedness, addressing the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases and mental health challenges, expanding the regional health workforce, advancing digital health transformation, eliminating endemic communicable diseases, and building health systems that can withstand the growing impacts of climate change.