Vânia de la Fuente-Núñez

Dr. Vânia de la Fuente-Núñez works as an independent senior consultant in healthy ageing, offering technical and strategic advice to different entities to help improve the lives of older people, their families, and communities. Her portfolio of services ranges from research, advocacy and capacity building to strategy development and evaluation. She is a recognized public speaker, who is spearheading efforts to attract funding in this space, develop national policies, and support organizations and governments to better respond to population ageing. Before working as an independent consultant, Dr de la Fuente-Núñez worked as an international civil servant for the World Health Organization for nine years. In this role, she was responsible for the Global Campaign to Combat Ageism, co-authoring the landmark Global Report on Ageism of the United Nations. She also led the area of capacity building on healthy ageing, implementing innovative learning programs and supporting the development of policies and programs in countries and regions around the world. She further contributed to the launch of WHO’s Global Observatory for Health Research and Development and supported the Secretariat of the WHO Research Ethics Committee during the 2014-15 Ebola outbreak. Previously, Vânia worked with different NGOs and research institutes in high- and low- income countries, including Spain, Senegal, and The Gambia. Graduated in Medicine from the University of Santiago de Compostela and in Social and Cultural Anthropology from UNED, Dr. de la Fuente-Núñez also has a Master's Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Health Economics from University College London.