Irene Koek is currently the acting assistant administrator in USAID's Global Health Bureau. Prior to this, she was the senior Infectious disease advisor for the Global Health Bureau and the Global Health Security Agenda lead at USAID. From 2010-2014 she was director of the Health Office in USAID/Indonesia where she also served as health attaché and PEPFAR coordinator. After her return to Washington from Indonesia and until April 2015, Ms. Koek served as the deputy director of the Office of Population and Reproductive Health in the Global Health Bureau.

Koek joined USAID in 1986. Starting in the Office of Population, she moved to the Policy and Program Coordination Bureau in 1995 as a health advisor, addressing maternal and child health, family planning and infectious disease issues. In 1998, Ms. Koek became the chief of the Infectious Disease Division in the Global Health Bureau, overseeing staff and programs for malaria, tuberculosis and neglected tropical diseases. In that role, she helped to start the President's Malaria Initiative and served as chair of the Stop TB Coordinating Board. Ms. Koek has a Master of Arts degree from George Washington University.