Manuela Rehr, PhD MScPH

Manuela Rehr is a microbiologist and epidemiologist working at the intersection of global health and AI.

She spent >16 years in international public health as epidemiologist and laboratory specialist with Médecins Sans Frontières, as a senior technical officer with KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, and as an independent consultant for USAID, FIND, and others.

Her recent consulting work focuses on geospatial analysis and optimization of diagnostic networks, with country-level projects across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, the Philippines, Uganda, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe. 

She developed and open-sourced the Diagnostic Network Explorer geospatial analysis app and published a multi-country accessibility analysis for novel TB diagnostics across 11 countries in East and Southern Africa.

She has recently trained in machine learning, neural networks, and the mathematical foundations of transformers, as well as applied AI systems including agentic workflows and knowledge management. Her current independent research is in mechanistic interpretability, investigating how language models represent and process information that can lead to biased responses.

She holds an MSc in Chemistry from the University of Marburg, a PhD in Natural Sciences from the ETH Zurich and a postgrad MSc in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.