Abha Saxena

Abha Saxena is a bioethicist and global health specialist. She was trained as an anesthesiologist, and practiced medicine for several years before moving to the World Health Organization in 2001. There she was heavily involved in bioethics work, coordinating the WHO Research ethics committee and Global Health Ethics Team. Since 2018, Saxena has been a visiting professor at the University of Geneva and a Senior Bioethics adviser at the INCLEN Trust International.

Education
Saxena completed her undergraduate degree, MBBS, and MD from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, where she trained as an anesthesiologist.

Career
Saxena was a member of the faculty of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi from 1986 to 1999, during which time she taught and conducted research in anesthesiology and palliative care. For twenty years she practiced medicine actively in hospital and community-based research in India.

In 2001, she joined the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. There, she managed the WHO Research ethics review committee from 2002 to 2018, and the Global Health Ethics Team from 2013 to 2018. In May 2018, Saxena left the World Health Organization and is now a visiting professor at the University of Geneva and a Senior Bioethics adviser at the INCLEN Trust International.

Personal life
Saxena is married to Shekhar Saxena, also of the World Health Organization, and together they live in Geneva, Switzerland. They have two adult daughters. .

Select publications

 * Cash, R, Wikler, D, Saxena, A., Capron, A. Casebook on Ethical Issues in International Health Research, Geneva: World Health Organization, 2009, 2010. Translated into five languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.  ISBN 9789241547727; second edition forthcoming.  ISBN 978 92 4 154772 7 (NLM classification: W 20.5).
 * Saxena, A, Gomes, M. Ethical challenges to responding to the Ebola epidemic: The World Health Organization experience. Clinical Trials 2006 (January):13(1)..