Cristina Romanelli

Cristina Romanelli holds over two decades of experience in policy evaluation and development, multi-stakeholder engagement, capacity-building, and interdisciplinary research at the intersection of biodiversity conservation, global and public health, climate change, and One Health.

She has provided high-level scientific and policy advice within scientific research and regulatory-compliance contexts.

Prior to her current role in the WHO's Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Health, she managed the WHO Joint Work Programme on biodiversity and health with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) since its establishment in 2012. 

She also led capacity-building workshops bringing together stakeholders from Ministries of Health, those responsible biodiversity conservation, and Indigenous Peoples spanning over 100 countries.

Cristina Romanelli has served as an expert, resource person, and lead author for the Inter-governmental Science-Policy Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

She was the principal lead coordinating author of the WHO-led State of Knowledge Review on biodiversity and health, and led the development of biodiversity-inclusive One Health Guidance adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity at its fourteenth Conference of the Parties.

She is also the WHO biodiversity focal point for the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine and coordinator of the WHO-IUCN Expert Working Group on biodiversity, climate change, One Health, and Nature-based Solutions.