Gerald Rockenschaub studied medicine at the University of Graz, initially as a surgeon and emergency physician, and joined WHO/Europe in 2004 as a regional representative and program manager, where he held a leading position in the areas of emergency preparedness and humanitarian aid. From 2014 to 2021, he was head of the WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territories (West Bank and Gaza Strip) in Jerusalem, then became WHO representative in Albania and was most recently director of the WHO Europe emergency relief program in Copenhagen. As a doctor in the midst of international conflicts, he took on the role of a "health diplomat", mediating between the conflicting parties on health issues to ensure health care in crisis situations and to focus on patients who are otherwise often at risk of being lost in the midst of political conflicts.