Adela Maghear
Senior Policy Advisor

Dr. Adela Maghear is a pharmacist and scientist with dual PhDs in Medical Sciences (Pharmacy) and Chemistry from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca in Romania and the University of Lorraine in France. Her academic and professional work has focused on the intersection of health, environmental safety, and public policy, driven by a strong belief that science should serve humanity and contribute to more equitable societies.

After receiving the Robert Schuman Scholarship at the European Parliament Research Service in Brussels, Dr. Maghear transitioned into European health policy, where she has spent nearly a decade working as a Senior Policy Advisor on health and environmental matters. In this role, she has led and contributed to policy and advocacy initiatives focused on cancer, antimicrobial resistance, patient access, public health, and environmental sustainability, working closely with European institutions, policymakers, healthcare professionals, and patient communities. Her insights and expertise have been featured in international publications including the Financial Times, The Telegraph, POLITICO, ChemicalWatch UK, Pharmaceutical Technology, Market Business News, Pharma Technology Focus, and Health Europa.

Dr. Maghear is passionate about bridging science, policy, and community impact to improve quality of life, particularly for underserved populations. She is honored to support the mission of Chemists Without Borders and strongly connects with its vision of science in service to humanity through holistic and sustainable interventions. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys lifelong learning, intercultural exchange, nature, and exploring how collaborative solutions can create healthier and more resilient communities worldwide.

Bangladesh has one of the highest arsenic levels in groundwater in the world.

From its founding in 2005, Chemists Without Borders had a vision: to find a solution to the 40,000 Bangladeshis dying each year from illnesses caused by arsenic poisoning. In 2014, we started our project in Bangladesh and hired five interns to give presentations at high schools explaining the hazards of arsenic in drinking water. Later, we found funding to construct ring wells at two high schools whose wells were heavily contaminated with arsenic.

Currently, we are building a new drinking water and sanitation system at Terial High School in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh. A new well is being constructed to obtain water from the ground, which will be treated with an arsenic removal system to purify the water. Twenty drinking water and hand-washing stations are built to provide safe water to the students. The water will be sanitized with a UV disinfection system before it is supplied to the students for drinking and handwashing. This new arsenic remediation system was designed keeping in mind to solve the arsenic problem in the schools nationwide in Bangladesh.

Well-Water Testing Project

Bangladesh has one of the highest arsenic levels in groundwater in the world. The majority of Bangladeshi citizens use private wells to meet their water needs. Most wells are shallow, less than 300 feet in depth.

Chemists Without Borders recruits university and high school students to test the wells and educate the residents about arsenic and the possibility of sharing water from safe wells with families who take drinking water from contaminated wells.

 

Water-Sharing Project

Water-sharing is a unique program innovated by the Chemists Without Borders. This project is not just about water. It is about empowering young people to solve a health problem that has persisted for years. This program allows neighbors to share water from certified arsenic-free wells. Chemists Without Borders runs this program with the help of high school and college students. Students are trained in testing the well water using a field test kit. The results are shared with the well owners, and the owners are educated about the health risks of high arsenic in the water. Owners of the well with no arsenic or less than 50 ppb arsenic levels are encouraged to enroll in the water sharing program, where they can share the arsenic-safe well water with their neighbors at a nominal cost.

Community participation is at the core of this program. By involving the whole community, the water-sharing program allows for minimizing the risk of arsenic exposure to the population at the lowest cost. We intend to expand this program throughout Bangladesh and other countries where arsenic in water is a problem. The beauty of this model is that it is simple, yet effective; ambitious, yet realistic; extensive, yet cost-effective.