Following the announcement of Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan’s candidacy for Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), high-level international leaders continue to express their support.
Former White House National Security Council official Ambassador Hugh Dugan endorsed Dr. Tamamyan’s candidacy in an official statement to Member States:
“To the Honorable Representatives of the Member States World Health Organization
Excellencies,
I have the honor to convey the following statement for your consideration. As Special Assistant to the President for International Organization Affairs on the White House National Security Council in 2019, I witnessed directly how the World Health Organization’s performance shaped national-security decision-making during the earliest phase of the pandemic. That experience underscored a truth shared across Member States today: WHO’s future effectiveness depends on leadership capable of restoring scientific seriousness, operational agility, and institutional credibility.
For these reasons, I express my support for the candidacy of Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan for Director-General of the World Health Organization.
Dr. Tamamyan brings a rare combination of clinical authority, global health leadership, and complex organizational management experience. He is an outsider with deep insider knowledge-a physician who has built national systems, unified fragmented institutions, and led multi-country networks across Europe, Asia, and North America. His consolidation of Armenia’s pediatric oncology services, his success in raising survival rates in resource-limited settings, and his coordination of 28 countries through SIOP Asia and the POEM Group demonstrate the administrative discipline, operational modernization, and managerial clarity WHO urgently requires.
Member States have noted that WHO’s operating system increasingly resembles a mainframe whose maintenance has been deferred-characterized by over-layered processes, slow decision cycles, and underweighted managerial competencies in past leadership selections. Dr. Tamamyan’s candidacy directly addresses this gap. He has repeatedly modernized systems, introduced performance accountability, and built durable institutions without reliance on entrenched bureaucratic networks.
Across regions and political traditions, Member States share several priorities:
- Scientific independence and credibility
- Faster emergency response and data transparency
- Endorsement of Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan for WHO Director-General
- Equitable access and strengthened national systems
- Respect for sovereignty and non-politicization
- Operational modernization and managerial competence
Dr. Tamamyan’s record aligns with all of these. His leadership is grounded in measurable outcomes, not rhetoric; in institution-building, not patronage; and in a clear-eyed understanding of how WHO must evolve to meet 21 st-century threats while supporting Member States’ diverse needs.
He offers a path toward a WHO that is:
- Scientifically rigorous
- Operationally modern
- Equity-driven
- Sovereignty-respecting
- Managerially competent and accountable
In 2019, I saw how WHO’s decisions reverberated through global security and diplomacy. Today, Member States require a leader who can modernize WHO’s operating system, strengthen its technical core, and rebuild trust across all blocs. Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan is uniquely prepared and equipped to meet that moment.
I respectfully commend in full support his candidacy to the Member States.
Please accept, Excellencies, the assurances of my highest consideration.”
Expressing his gratitude for the endorsement from former White House NSC official Ambassador Hugh Dugan, Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan shared:
“I am deeply honored to receive this endorsement from the Honorable Hugh Dugan, who served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs on the National Security Council under President Trump, following more than three decades in the U.S. diplomatic service, much of it at the United Nations.
Thank you, dear Hugh, for your kind words and your trust in me, and for your friendship and advice.”
About Hugh Dugan
Hugh T. Dugan is an American diplomat, academic, and international affairs expert with decades of experience in U.S.–UN relations, multilateral diplomacy, and hostage affairs. During his career in the U.S. Foreign Service, he served as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations and senior adviser to eleven U.S. Ambassadors to the UN. He later served on the White House National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Organization Affairs, alongside his work as Principal Deputy and Acting Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.
Dugan is the Founder and President of the Truce Foundation of the USA, which promotes international peace and diplomacy through the Olympic Truce and engagement with the United Nations. He also serves as President of Multilateral Accountability Associates, an organization focused on strengthening accountability, governance, and institutional reform within multilateral organizations. In academia, he has served as a professor and Senior Fellow at Seton Hall University’s School of Diplomacy and International Relations.
About Dr Gevorg Tamamyan
Dr Gevorg Tamamyan, MD, MSc, PhD, DSc, FASCO, is a prospective candidate for the post of Director-General of the World Health Organization, nominated by the Republic of Botswana. He is a global leader in oncology, health systems strengthening, and international health cooperation, recognized for building bridges between countries and advancing equitable cancer care in resource-limited settings.
Dr. Tamamyan is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at Yerevan State Medical University and CEO of the Immune Oncology Research Institute (IMMONC).
He is the Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of OncoDaily, one of the world’s largest oncology media platforms, created to democratize access to reliable, independent, and evidence-based cancer information globally.
Dr. Tamamyan was elected and currently serves as President of two major international pediatric oncology organizations: the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) Asia Continental Branch, representing pediatric oncology professionals across Asia, and the Pediatric Oncology East and Mediterranean (POEM) Group, uniting 28 countries and 110 cancer centers. He also serves as Co-Chair of the St. Jude EURO Regional Advisory Committee, encompassing 13 European countries.
At the age of 31, Dr. Tamamyan was appointed Head of the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia, where he led the consolidation of previously fragmented pediatric oncology and hematology services into a single national center. Under his leadership, the Center evolved into a regional reference point, with survival rates reaching up to 80%.
He also co-founded City of Smile, a national pediatric cancer charity that helps ensure universal coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of every child and young adult with cancer in Armenia.
Dr. Tamamyan is Chairman of the Board of the Institute of Cancer and Crisis and an adviser to the Rector of Yerevan State Medical University. He previously served as President of the Harvard Club of Armenia.
Educated and trained across seven countries in Europe, North America, and Asia, his professional journey spans frontline clinical practice, research, academic leadership, national cancer center management, global health diplomacy, and institution building.
He is the recipient of numerous international awards and distinctions, including Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (FASCO); ASCO LIFe and IDEA Awards; UICC and IARC Young Leader Awards; the 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award; the Latin American and Caribbean Society of Medical Oncology (SLACOM) Award for Global Oncology Leadership; and the Global Health Catalyst Distinguished Leader Award.
He is married and has two daughters, Charlize and Letizia.
Read more about Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan’s WHO candidacy:
Dr Gevorg Tamamyan is Nominated as a Candidate for WHO Director-General Position
Watch HRH Princess Dina Mired’s interview with Dr. Gevorg Tamamyan: The Man Who Challenged Cancer Hierarchies