Diogo Martins

Dr Diogo Martins is Lead Adviser to the CEO Office at Wellcome, working closely with leadership to shape and drive the organisation’s strategic priorities. His role bridges strategy and operations, ensuring Wellcome’s work delivers the greatest possible impact by integrating research investment, policy influence, and partnerships. Previously, he led Wellcome’s Snakebite Programme, transforming how treatments are researched, developed, and delivered – making them safer, more effective, and more accessible to those who need them most.

A medical doctor with global experience across Portugal, Brazil, Italy, and the UK, Dr Martins brings a patient-centred approach to shaping global health policy and practice. At WHO, he contributed to embedding health in the 2015 UNFCCC Paris Agreement and continues to support the WHO STAG for Neglected Tropical Diseases.

He holds a Master’s in Public Health from LSHTM and pursued a DrPH, teaching across key public health modules. He also completed a Rockefeller Foundation–Boston University fellowship on global health decision-making.

Beyond Wellcome, Dr Martins advises the President of Portugal on foreign affairs as a member of the Portuguese Diaspora Council, mobilised UK–EU research collaboration through a European Commission grant, and served as President of PARSUK, strengthening international scientific networks. He regularly engages with policy and media, including as a peer reviewer for BMJ and The Lancet and as a guest commentator on RTP radio.