Adriana Velazquez Berumen

Senior adviser and team lead of medical devices and in vitro diagnostics at the World Health Organization

International

With  more than 30 years of experience in Biomedical Engineering, Adriana is senior adviser and team lead of medical devices and in vitro diagnostics at the World Health Organization. She has been leading the work to improve access to safe, affordable, quality and appropriate medical devices since 2008. 

In WHO she  has coordinated the development  of more than 40 publications and multiple projects and workshops related to:  selection of the WHO Lists of Priority Medical Devices and Essential In Vitro Diagnostics, development of  policies for medical devices, global data on medical devices, selection of innovative technologies, health technology assessment and health technology management. She has led the development of WHO technical specifications for more than 100 medical devices, from blood pressure measurement, to protective equipment to radiotherapy units.  She instituted the WHO Global Fora of medical devices where participants of more than 100 countries meet to share knowledge. She has led workshops in more than 40 countries to empower local biomedical engineers and support ministries of health to ensure management of the technology.  

She is Mexican Biomedical Engineer with postgraduate degree in Clinical Engineering in USA. Previous to join WHO she was the founding and Director General of the National Centre for Health Technology Excellence (CENETEC) in the Ministry of Health in Mexico where she worked for 7 years.  Previously  she had more than 15 years experience as clinical engineer in Private and public hospitals in Mexico. She has held multiple honorary positions.