Saeda Makimoto is a global health professional at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where she serves as Senior Deputy Director General in the Human Development Department. She leads and coordinates JICA’s strategic engagement in global health and health security—including pandemic preparedness and response (PPR) financing, equitable access to medical countermeasures (MCM) , and the Impact Investment Initiative for Global Health (Triple I)—in collaboration with other departments.With an academic background in international health and 30 years of experience in development cooperation, Makimoto has held key positions both in the field and at headquarters—including country offices in Bangladesh and Lao PDR—and has served as director in areas such as maternal and child health, nutrition, and health systems strengthening across Asia and the Pacific. She was also seconded to the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office, where she contributed to immunization and polio eradication efforts.Her research background includes serving as Principal Research Fellow and cluster lead for human development at the JICA Ogata Research Institute for Peace and Development, where she focused on health policy, health security, health systems strengthening,  development aid for health, and impact evaluation. She has contributed to major international initiatives such as the Think20 Osaka thematic group on Universal Health Coverage, the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health 3.0, and collaborative research with the Brookings Institution.