Badri Thapa : While working as a lecturer between 2009-2010, I took up some assignments from UNICEF, WHO, and UNDP. Through these assignments, I supported the Ministry of Health and Population with 'on-site mentoring and monitoring of the HIV testing laboratories' in 21 districts of Nepal; developed the 'National Quality Assurance Scheme for HIV testing'; and conducted 'research on neonatal sepsis' and study on 'prevalence of anemia among adolescent school going girls'. The study on anemia showed the prevalence of anemia was as high as 40% and iron deficiency anemia was among 50% of those diagnosed as anemics. A simple strategy of iron supplementation could avert anemia situation at the population level which has huge impact on the growth and development of adolescent including improving their future maternal life and their unborn babies. This acted as a catalyst and ignited a chain reaction to get me involved in public health. Another motivator is my wife. She is a public health graduate from Mahidol and we always had informative discussions on public health issues. This too evoked my interest in Public Health. In 2011, my career in public health started as Project Coordinator to manage the Global Fund Grants for Malaria within the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal. During my work there, I further realized that there is a lot to be done in improving public health. I possess the technical knowledge required but realized that I also needed to build my skills in program management and administration. There is a dearth of professional who possess technical knowledge along with management and administration skills. It is for this reason I have been constantly enhancing my skills to contribute aptly as a leader in public health. To date I have completed my Masters in Business Administration with specialization in health project management. My professional career continues to shine as a result of my academic degrees; implementation experience; and passion of academia and research in infectious diseases--namely, Malaria, TB, HIV, Neglected Tropical Disease, antimicrobial resistance and Climate sensitive diseases.