Sania Nishtar, SI, FRCP, PhD, is a Pakistani physician and former federal minister of the Government of Pakistan. She has strong civil society credentials as founder of Heartfile in Pakistan. Born in Peshawar, Dr. Nishtar graduated from Khyber Medical College with 16 distinctions, setting a college record. She holds a Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a PhD, from Kings College, London. Dr. Nishtar has been involved with many international agencies in various capacities and is described by the World Health Organization as “a widely respected global health expert.\" Currently co-Chair of WHO High-Level global commission on Non-Communicable Diseases, she was founding Chair of the UN Secretary General’s Independent Accountability Panel for the Global Strategy on Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ health and has served as co-Chair of the WHO Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. She has also served as Board Member of the WHO Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research, and Gavi the Vaccine Alliance. She is currently co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare and is also a Trustee member of the World Economic Forum’s Health Global Challenge initiative. She is also a member of the Lancet and Rockefeller Foundation Commission on Planetary Health and the Lancet and Harvard Commission on Pain and Palliative Care. In addition, Dr. Nishtar is member of the Steering Committee of the Emerging Markets Symposium, which is an initiative of the Green Templeton College, Oxford University. Dr. Nishtar has extensively published internationally and is the author of six books. She is a regular keynote speaker at international events and is the recipient of many national and international awards, including the Pakistani civil award, Sitara-i-Imtiaz (star achiever) and the Global Innovation Award. She has been included in the list of the top 20 women in science in the Muslim world. In 2017, Dr. Nishtar, was one of the three shortlisted nominees for Director-General of the World Health Organization.