Hard work and determination are some of the most important attributes to have if you want to succeed, says executive director of Caribbean Public Health Agency (Carpha) Dr Lisa Indar.

Indar holds a PhD, MSc and BSc from UWI and studied multiple disciplines including epidemiology, microbiology and environmental health. She was fortunate to study at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Health England and other prestigious international institutes.

Despite her qualifications, she believes self-confidence and being able to deliver are also important.

“I’m not saying education is not important. I wouldn’t even be eligible to apply for the executive director post if I didn’t have a PhD, or so many years of experience in management. What I’m saying is, it’s not the only thing.

“It’s about believing in yourself and getting things done. We have a lot of people who come through Carpha. Sometimes people are well educated and sometimes people are not as well-educated, but they have the experience, the passion and the ability to work hard.”

The Chaguanas resident started as the interim executive director in July of last year, but that was no guarantee she would get the permanent position.

She recalled, on June 30, while conducting the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup mass-gathering exercise in Barbados, she saw a letter from the chair of the executive board saying she was selected to be the interim executive director as the term of the previous one had ended.

“It wasn’t something I knew was coming. But I was the director of surveillance, disease prevention and control since around 2019, so I had an idea of what to do at the highest level.

“I would have represented the executive director at many forums – at our heads of government, at our prime ministerial level, regional, at levels of international forums like the WHO (World Health Organization) and so on.”

So for her it was a natural transition. It was a lot of work but nothing too difficult, especially as she had a passion for public health and enjoyed developing health systems specific to the Caribbean.

As she did the work of the executive director, she got to like it, and applied for the role.

She said there was a stringent process including an interview with high-level officials, chief medical officers and agencies from across the Caribbean in December 2024, and the executive board which consisted of health ministers, chief medical officers and representatives from agencies like the Pan American Health Organization, agreed to her appointment.

She was confirmed as the executive director on February 1.

Indar had about 20 years of regional and international experience in public health, first at the Caribbean Epidemiology Centre (Carec) as the head of the food-borne disease programme, then at Carpha.

“I loved what I did as a director of surveillance. It allowed me to put pen to paper, put my passion into words, to be an impetus, to persuade and get things done for the region.

“You were developing Caribbean-tailored interventions that