Dr. Ru Cheng

Today we’re getting under the hood of Dr. Ru Cheng a mother, daughter, sister, wife, aunt, daughter-in-law, ob-gyn physician, clinical researcher, therapeutics developer, women’s health expert, leader, and passionate advocate for women and girls. 

Ru Cheng is Director of the Women's Health Innovations team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where all lives have equal value. She leads a team focused on the development and adoption of high-quality health products that address the needs of women and girls in low and middle-income countries.

Ru’s career path defies traditional boundaries and classifications with a common thread of applying science and medicine to address health areas that prevent women from achieving optimal health. As a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, she began her career in academic medicine as a clinician educator. After a mentor introduced her to clinical research, Ru saw the opportunity to drive impact on a bigger scale. She transitioned to the pharma industry and spent the next 15 years working in clinical development roles of increasing responsibility and leadership in women's health which took her to Wyeth/Pfizer, Bayer, and Johnson&Johnson. In her role at Johnson & Johnson, she developed public health initiatives aimed at the maternal mortality crisis in the US and the associated inequities. 

In her current role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ru draws upon all of her experiences as a woman’s health clinician, big pharma R&D leader, and public health innovator. And throughout her career, Ru has brought her lived experiences as a female immigrant from a minority race, facing and overcoming inequities, further fueling her passion to advocate for marginalized women. In her free time, Ru enjoys spending time with her family, global travel, and staying fit. 

The opinions expressed are Ru’s own and are not reflective of her employer. 

Listen to Ru’s story.