Zsuzsanna Jakab

Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab (dr. Jakab Ferencné) (b. 17 May, 1951) is a Hungarian epidemiologist. In March 2005 she became head of the newly formed European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) located in Stockholm (Solna Municipality), Sweden. She is Europe's top health official, taking on the task of defending the European Union against infectious diseases.

Education

From 1969 to 1974 she obtained a Master’s Degree in political sciences at the Eötvös Lóránd University of Sciences in Budapest. From 1977 until 1979 she studied at the University of Political Sciences in Budapest, where she obtained Postgraduate university degree in macroeconomics, political sciences, and history of religions. In 1998 and [1999]] she studied public health and epidemiology (two courses) at the Nordic School of Public Health in Göteborg, Sweden. In 2002 - 2003 she studies at the National Institute of Public Administration and Management (Hungary), where she obtained a postgraduate degree in public administration and management.

Career

From December 1975 until December 1991 she worked for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Hungary. From 17 December 1991 until September 2002, she worked for the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, where she was in charge of the Administration and Management Support. Before she became head of the ECDC, she was Secretary of State in Hungary’s Ministry of Health, Social and Family Affairs. She was responsible for overseeing Hungary’s implementation and management of the EU integration, regarding health policies. Zsuzsanna Jakab was the first national from one of the Member States that joined the European Union on 1 May 2004 to become the head of an agency of the European Union.

Source

• ECDC Executice Committee
• Zsuzsanna Jakab
• CV