Dr. Maike Scharp is a Deputy Director in the Foundation Strategy Office at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), where she supports teams across the foundation in their strategy development and execution. She also co-leads the foundation’s efforts to strengthen the Women’s Health R&D ecosystem within the Gender Equality division and is co-chair for the Innovation Equity Forum (IEF), a collaborative partnership sponsored by BMGF and the US National Institutes of Health with over 250 women’s health experts and stakeholders across diverse sectors and geographies. In October 2023, the IEF released the Women’s Health Innovation Opportunity Map 2023, a collaborative framework, outlining 50 equitable, high-return opportunities across the R&D continuum to maximize research and innovation, investments, and global action in women’s health. Prior to joining BMGF, Maike was a Partner at the Boston Consulting Group, where she led extensive efforts in strategy development, portfolio prioritization, operating model innovation, data & analytics, and change management across biopharma commercial, R&D and Global Health clients. She also worked as a physician in radio-oncology and palliative care and spent time in Uganda working closely with the Ministry of Health through the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Maike holds a Medical Doctorate from Heidelberg University as well as a Master of Science in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.