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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus/Verena Mohaupt/Gonzalo Moratorio/Adi Utarini/Kathrinjansen/Zhang Yongzhen/Chanda Prescod-Weinstein/Li Lanjuan/Jacinda Ardern/Anthony Fauci
The Nature's 10 list explores key developments in science this year and some of the people who played important parts in these milestones. Along with their colleagues, these individuals helped to make amazing discoveries and brought attention to crucial issues. Nature's 10 is not an award or a ranking. The selection is compiled by Nature's editors to highlight key events in science through the compelling stories of those involved.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Warning the world
The public-health leader faced challenges from all sides in trying to rally the globe against COV1D-19.
By Smriti Mallapaty
On 15 April, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), found himself in a political windstorm. The day before, US President Donald Trump had said that he would halt funding to the WHO, pending a review of its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its dealings with China.
But instead of reacting publicly to Trump's accusations of 'mismanagement' and 'cover-ups', Tedros described the United States as a "generous friend" and emphasized the agency's desire to serve every country and every partner during the pandemic.
"Because we were very alarmed by the geopolitical tensions between major powers, we advocated from the outset for global solidarity," says Tedros in an e-mail to Nature.
For almost 73 years, the WHO has served as the world's smoke alarm for emerging health threats, collecting intelligence on hundreds of disease outbreaks and advising nations on their responses - sometimes working directly with local health agencies on the ground.
Tedros became the organization's first director-general from Africa in 2017, following a troubled response by the WHO to a major Ebola outbreak. With a background in public health, epidemiology and foreign affairs, Tedros promised to create an agency that could move swiftly to address the next crisis.
He has won over many public-health researchers and practitioners with his empathy, approachability and hard work. "He leads by really rolling up his sleeves and showing an example to others," says Lawrence Gostin, a researcher of public-health law at Georgetown University in Washington DC. When Ebola emerged again in 2018 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tedros visited the country multiple times, at great personal risk. The...