Marco Tovar

Dr. Marco Tovar is a pediatrician and Director of Research & Innovation at the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional (IIN), with extensive clinical experience in Peru’s largest health subsystems (ESSALUD and the Ministry of Health), where he worked in primary care and pediatric intensive care. He has coordinated national and international projects to strengthen childhood tuberculosis services, including a Global Fund grant, and serves as a member of the Ministry of Health’s Pediatric TB Expert Committee and the Pan-American Health Organization’s Regional Group for TB in Children and Adolescents. As Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator in studies funded by MRC/DFID/Wellcome Trust, IFHAD, the World Bank, and the Stop TB Partnership, he has led randomized trials, observational studies, and socioeconomic interventions that have shaped national health policies. His career combines expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, and multidisciplinary team leadership, positioning him as a key figure in translating research evidence into policy to improve child health and TB control in Peru and across the region, and during the COVID-19 pandemic he led the USAID-funded national response in Peru.