International Advisory Board Member

Mary Young, M.D., Dr.P.H.

Photograph of Mary Young Dr. Young, is a Pediatrician and a Public Health Specialist. She received her B.S. (summa cum laude) and two doctoral degrees- M.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and Dr. P.H. from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Young is Board Certified by the American Academy of Pediatrics and by the American Academy of Preventive Medicine. She was in clinical practice prior to joining the World Bank full time in 1989.

She is the World Bank’s primary advocate for young children’s wellbeing and development. Dr. Young is the Lead Child Development Specialist in the World Bank's Human Development Network. Within the Bank, she synthesis and disseminates knowledge and information on Early Child Development programs and projects, that is all types of interventions that address the health, nutrition, and development needs of children under the age of 6. She manages an award-winning website- Early Child Development Knowledge Base (http://www.worldbank.org/children) for the use of field practitioners and agencies interested in early child development. And she provides support to task managers in the design and implementation of ECD projects in all the regions that the World Bank serves.

Her operational experience includes projects in China (since World Bank’s first China Health sector study and project in 1982), Eastern Europe (Poland’s Health System Reform, Hungary Health Sector reform analysis), the Middle East (Jordan, Egypt), and Latin America and the Caribbean (Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Jamaica, Dominican Republic). Dr. Young's recent publication and edited works include: Investing in Young Children, Early Child Development: Investing in the Future, From Early Child Development to Human Development, and Early Child Development—From Measurement to Action, A Priority for Growth and Equity. In addition, she has published numerous articles on the Chinese Health Care system, focusing on child health and maternal health. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the U.S. National Institute for Early Education Research and the International Step by Step Association.