Kristina Mauer-Stender is a senior public health executive with more than 20 years of managerial experience and a strong international background. She has overseen complex public health programmes across more than 20 countries. She holds master’s degrees in international public law and comparative human rights law from Strasbourg, France.

Ms Mauer-Stender joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2003 as a Technical Officer in the Tobacco Control Programme at the WHO Regional Office for Europe in Copenhagen. She later served as Programme Manager and, since 2015, has led the WHO tobacco control programme for the European Region. In this role, she provides strategic advice to ministries of health and policymakers across health and other sectors.

Her work focuses on advancing evidence-based tobacco control policies in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and strengthening national capacities for its effective implementation. She works closely with policymakers and multisectoral partners in approximately 25 countries and engages with all 53 countries of the European Region through regional consultations and ministerial processes.

Ms Mauer-Stender also led the development of the WHO European vision for a tobacco-free Region, following the 2013 Ashgabat Declaration, as well as the 2015–2025 roadmap to strengthen FCTC implementation, which was endorsed by all 53 Ministers of Health in the European Region.

In recent years, she has served as Acting Divisional Director, where her leadership contributed to increased staff engagement and was recognized with the WHO Director-General’s Award of Excellence. She currently serves as Regional Advisor for Tobacco Control at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.