Dr. Charity Usifoh Chenge

An accomplished public health leader with over 25 years of experience driving large scale health systems change with notable achievements that reflect an exemplary ability to turn global ambition into sustainable, country owned impact.

Co-led Nigeria’s national rollout of Early Infant Diagnosis of HIV using dried blood spot technology. The initiative grew from a single pilot molecular laboratory and six clinical sites to more than 17 molecular labs and over 6,500 clinical facilities nationwide, ensuring that thousands of HIV-exposed infants were tested early and linked to life saving treatment. She led Gates Foundation’s catalytic partnerships that scaled Group Antenatal Care (G-ANC) as an alternative service delivery model to eight states, enrolling > 1.1 million pregnant women.

Held major roles at the U.S. CDC, The Global Fund (Geneva), Catholic Relief Services, Born Free Africa, and Gates Foundation. Across these roles, she led complex, multi sector initiatives that strengthened governance, institutional-building, improved service delivery, and expanded access to health care, including managing a complex health portfolio exceeding USD173.5 million at the Gates Foundation.

Serves on five non-profit boards, including the G4 Alliance. She has won numerous awards including very recently in July 2026, an award for ‘Visionary Leadership’ for building institutions that advance sustainable health systems. In 2025, the Governor of Gombe State named a hall at the College of Nursing Sciences after her, in recognition of her exceptional contributions to transforming primary health care (PHC) systems.

She earned her M.B.B.S and Master of Public Health (MPH) from the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, and holds an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Financing jointly awarded by the London School of Economics (LSE) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), both of the University of London. She completed her doctoral studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, obtaining a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Public Health Leadership from the Gillings School of Global Public Health.