Dr. Marleen Temmerman always wanted to make sure “people around the world had the same chances.” That vision carried her from early roadblocks (“But you’re a woman…”) to residency, then to Nairobi in the 1980s as HIV emerged. She helped stand up maternal–newborn research and services in high-volume public hospitals, founded NGOs advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, and later served two terms in Belgium’s senate and as a department lead at the WHO. Now based in Kenya, she’s focused on durable system improvements: strengthening a major coastal referral hospital, launching a new medical school in partnership with local government and universities, expanding cancer screening/treatment, and training the next generation of Kenyan clinician-leaders. We discuss why funding shocks set programs back, how philanthropy and grant capacity can close gaps, and the practical ways physicians anywhere can contribute—through excellent local care, twinned research, mentorship, telemedicine, and targeted giving. Highlights • Origin story: Pushing past gender barriers to train in OB-GYN and public/global health. • Nairobi in the HIV era: Building perinatal research while scaling essential maternity services. • From clinic to policy: Why she stepped into parliament and later the WHO to move women’s health forward. • Capacity over charity: Scholarships, PhDs, and reciprocity so Kenyan clinicians lead the work. • Systems work now: Upgrading a 700+ bed county hospital; standing up a coastal medical school; expanding breast/cervical cancer programs. • Funding reality: Abrupt donor cuts ripple into maternal care and PMTCT; how foundations and local philanthropy can soften the blow. • AI & telemedicine: Useful only when they reach public-sector patients—not just the few who can pay. • Advice to trainees: Don’t take no for an answer; leave your comfort zone; aim high and build with communities.Top 3 Key Takeaways 1. Education compounds across generations. Training local clinicians, researchers, and administrators is the highest-leverage intervention. 2. Continuity matters. Gradual funding transitions preserve hard-won capacity; sudden cuts reverse progress in HIV, maternal health, and oncology. 3. Everyone can help. Deliver excellent care at home, join twinned research/teaching projects, mentor via telemedicine, or direct donations to programs building local leadership.About the Guest Prof. Dr. Marleen Temmerman is a global leader in women’s, adolescent, and child health and rights. She currently serves as Director of the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health at Aga Khan University in Nairobi, Kenya, and holds the UNESCO Chair in Youth Leadership in Health, Education, Gender, and Sciences. She also chairs the Board of Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital in Mombasa and is an Adjunct Professor at the Technical University of Mombasa. Previously, Dr. Temmerman directed the Department of Reproductive Health Research at the World Health Organization in Geneva, served two terms as a Senator in the Belgian Parliament, and founded the International Centre of Reproductive Health (ICRH) in Belgium, Kenya, and Mozambique. With over 600 peer-reviewed publications, she is recognized internationally for her scholarship on HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, gender equity, and global health systems. She has supervised more than 60 PhD students across four continents and received numerous honors, including membership in the US National Academy of Medicine, Honorary Membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Fellowship in both the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists and the African Academy of Sciences, the BMJ Lifetime Achievement Award, the title of Commander in the Order of King Leopold (2024), and Kenya’s Moran of the Burning Spear (2019). About the Host: Dr. Peter Crane is a board-certified physician, educator, and storyteller with a heart for service and a calling to spotlight doctors who make a difference—in their communities, in medicine, and in the lives they touch. Through Doctors Making a Difference, he brings you into intimate conversations with physicians who have overcome challenges, redefined success, and found purpose in and beyond the clinic. His goal is simple: to help more doctors stay in medicine by showing them what's possible. About the Show: Doctors Making a Difference is more than a podcast—it’s a movement to highlight the good, the gritty, and the deeply human side of medicine. In every episode, Dr. Peter Crane interviews physicians whose stories defy the script. From burnout recovery to bold career pivots, health challenges to quiet leadership, this show honors the truth that healing begins with connection—and doctors, too, deserve to be whole. Visit: doctorsmakingadifference.com (https://www.doctorsmakingadifference.com) The Doctors Making a Difference Podcast is for informational purposes only and does not ...