Dr Douglas William Bettcher is the former Director the Department for Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases, World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity his portfolio included oversight for WHO’s work on NCD risk factor prevention (including tobacco use, diet and physical inactivity), health promotion, ending childhood obesity and NCD risk factor surveillance. He has a multidisciplinary background and holds a PhD in International Relations and a Graduate Diploma in World Politics, both from the London School of Economics and Political Science; a Master’s of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; and a Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Alberta, Canada. Dr Bettcher has written widely on several topics, including globalization and health, foreign policy and health security, international law and public health, noncommunicable diseases prevention and control, tobacco control, and trade and other health policy issues. Dr Bettcher was WHO's principal focal point for providing Secretariat support for the negotiation of WHO's first treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. On March 8, 2018 at the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Cape Town he was awarded a Luther L. Terry Distinguished Career Award for his lifetime contribution to tobacco control.