The Global Health Innovative Technology (GHIT) Fund has announced the appointment of Hiroki Nakatani, MD, PhD, MHPEd, former World Health Organization (WHO) assistant director-general, to the fund's board of directors and named him its board chair. Nakatani succeeds founding GHIT Board Chair Kiyoshi Kurokawa, who played an instrumental role in the fund's growth and achievements in its first five years of operation.

Nakatani served as WHO assistant director-general from 2007 to 2015, where he led the largest technical cluster comprising HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases. During his tenure, the morbidity and mortality of these diseases showed trends of decline, with some tropical diseases moving toward suppression and even eradication in the case of dracunculiasis (guinea worm disease).

Prior to joining WHO, Nakatani enjoyed a long career in Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, where he acquired extensive technical experience in public health, including immunization, health promotion, health emergencies and health workforce development. His senior-level responsibilities in the ministry included a focus on administration, management, and organizational and legislative development.

He is currently a specially appointed professor at Keio University (Keio University Global Research Institute: KGRI), a specially appointed professor at Osaka University (in public health), an advisor for Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, a director at the National Center for Global Health and Medicine, and a WHO executive board member.