Tanja Kuchenmüller, M.A., M.Sc, coordinates, leads and manages ad interim the Knowledge Management, Evidence and Research for Policy-Making unit (KER); Division of Information, Evidence, Research and Innovation (DIR) at the WHO Regional Office for Europe. DIR/KER has the mandate to support Member States in strengthening capacity for generating health research, following globally-accepted ethics principles, providing access to scientific knowledge and translating the best available evidence into policies and practice. DIR/KER operates under the umbrella of the WHO European Health Information Initiative and in support of implementing the Action plan and Resolution to strengthen the use of evidence, information and research for policymaking in the WHO European Region (EUR/RC66/12).
DIR/KER encompasses the following regional networks and initiatives: the Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet), Health Evidence Network (HEN), European Health Research Network (EHRN) and other health research and evidence informed policy-making related areas, such as the European Advisory Committee on Health Research (EACHR), Guidelines and Ethics Review Committees and the Consultative Expert Working Group on Research and Development: Financing and Coordination (CEWG).
Before taking on the function as unit leader a.i., Tanja Kuchenmüller worked as Technical Officer in the same unit, where she established and coordinated EVIPNet Europe, the European arm of the WHO Evidence-Informed Policy Network (EVIPNet). Previously, she worked as Technical Officer for the WHO Initiative to Estimate the Global Burden of Foodborne Diseases at WHO Headquarters, which she eventually led.
Prior to her career at WHO, she worked for several years in the area of HIV/AIDS for the United Nations Development Programme in New York and for the German Development Service in Mali and Germany.