Rabia Mathai
Senior Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific
Catholic Medical Mission Board
Dr. Rabia Mathai is CMMB’s Senior Regional Representative, Asia-Pacific. In this capacity, she is responsible for the expansion of CMMB’s programs and partners in the region, and the identification and securing of public and private funding for this expansion. Dr. Mathai brings over 30 years of international public health experience in primary healthcare program management and strategic planning, including maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other infectious diseases.
Prior to this appointment, Dr. Mathai, who joined CMMB in 2002, served as the organization’s Senior Vice President for Global Program, Policy and Planning. Upon joining CMMB, she led CMMB in the implementation of its first major life-saving, in-country initiatives: Born To Live, focused on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; Accion por la Salud Familiar/Action for Family Health, a collaborative program with the Pan American Health Organization, which focuses on reducing the number of preventable deaths in children under five in Latin America and the Caribbean; and AIDSRelief, an HIV/AIDS treatment program in Africa and the Caribbean, run in collaboration with a consortium of partners.
Dr. Mathai has also served as the chief technical advisor to CMMB’s president and chief executive officer and has been the chief liaison to CMMB’s programmatic partners.
Dr. Mathai came to CMMB with hands-on experience, working in the United States, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean; working in culturally diverse environments, with government and non-governmental organizations including faith-based organizations, the United Nations, the International Red Cross, and working with academic institutions. In addition to her vast field experience, Dr. Mathai's academic degrees include a Dr.PH and MPH from the University of Texas, Houston, and an MS and PhD from New Delhi University, all with a focus on public health.