International Task Force for Disease Eradication - Current Members

Sir George Alleyne, M.D., F.R.C.P. (2001-Present)
Director Emeritus
Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)
Former Director Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO); Former Chairman of the Department of Medicine (University of the West Indies); former Member/Chairman of the PAHO/WHO Advisory Committee for Medical Research; christened Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his services to medicine (1990).

Ekkehard L.Betsch (2009-Present)
Senior Health Specialist
Health, Nutrition, and Population
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Served in the Vitamins and Fine Chemicals Division of F. Hoffman-La Roche in Switzerland, Indonesia, and Hong Kong; Was responsible for the Roche Middle East organization in Saudi Arabia and Dubai; Joined the World Bank in 2009 as International Federation of Pharmaceuticals Manufactures Association (IFPMA) Fellow in the position of Senior Health Specialist supporting the pharmaceutical team in the implementation and evaluation of health sector projects containing pharmaceutical components.

Stephen B. Blount, M.D., M.P.H. (2009-Present)
Associate Director for Global Health and
Director, Office of Global Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Responsible for CDC's global health portfolio. Provides programmatic and financial oversight for the CDC's Global AIDS Program; global immunization and disease; eradication activities; malaria, tuberculosis, and tobacco control efforts; and international training programs. Assigned to the World Health Organization from 1993-1997 and served as director of the Caribbean Epidemiology Center in Trinidad.

Dr. Mickey Chopra (2009-Present)
Chief of Health/ Associate Director, Programs
UNICEF
Leads UNICEF work on maternal, newborn and child health, immunizations, pediatric HIV/AIDS, and health systems strengthening, policy and research. Former director of the Health Systems Research Group of the South Africa Medical Research Council. Previously district medical officer in the rural health district of Hlabisa, South Africa.

Donald R. Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H. (Chair, 2001-Present)
Vice President for Health Programs
The Carter Center
Participated in the Smallpox Eradication Program (Sierra Leone, India, Ethiopia); co-chaired the 1997 Dahlem Conference (Berlin); Project Director for the first International Task Force for Disease Eradication; former CDC Deputy Director.

Adetokunbo Lucas, M.D. (2001-Present)
Professor of International Health
University of Ibadan and Harvard University
Former Chairman of the Department of Community Medicine/University of Ibadan (Nigeria); served as Chair of the Carnegie Corporation's Grant Programme for Strengthening Human Resources in Developing Countries; former Director of WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases; member of the first International Task Force for Disease Eradication.

David Molyneux, Ph.D., D.Sc., Hon.FRCP (Rtd.) (2001-Present)
Professor of Tropical Health Sciences
Lymphatic Filariasis Support Centre
Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
Former Director of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (United Kingdom); member of the WHO Expert Panel on Parasitic Diseases; former President of the British Society of Parasitology; member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the World Bank/UNDP/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases; member of the International Commission for the Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication.

Mark L. Rosenberg, M.D., M.P.H. (2001-Present)
Executive Director
Task Force for Child Survival and Development
Completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital; served in enteric diseases, HIV/AIDS, and injury control with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; founding Director of CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

Lorenzo Savioli, M.D. (2008-Present)
Director
Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases
World Health Organization
Served as a Clinician in Zanzibar (United Republic of Tanzania) from 1979 up to 1982. Worked as a clinician from 1982 to 1986 in Rome at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases. Headed the schistosomiasis control programme of Zanzibar from 1986 to 1991 when he joined the World Health Organization to lead the Programme for Intestinal Parasitic Infections and later the schistosomiasis and intestinal parasitic infections programme.

Harrison Spencer, M.D., M.P.H., D.T.M.&H. (2001-Present)
President and CEO
Association of Schools of Public Health
Directed the CDC research station in Nairobi, Kenya; served as Senior Medical Officer of the WHO Malaria Action Program; former Chief of CDC Parasitic Diseases Branch; former Dean of the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine; former Dean of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Dyann Wirth, Ph.D., M.A. (2001-Present)
Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases
Harvard School of Public Health
Director of Harvard Malaria Initiative
Former Chair of the WHO/UNDP/World Bank Tropical Disease Research Steering Committee on Drugs for Malaria; recipient of the Burroughs Wellcome Award in Molecular Parasitology; Immediate Past President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; present Chair of the Harvard's Division of Biological Sciences.

Yoichi Yamagata, Ph.D., M.Sc. (2001-Present)
Project Manager
Mp-Reproductive Health Project/India
Institute of International Cooperation
Japan International Cooperation Agency
Worked as a Field Entomology Researcher for the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme (Burkina Faso); managed the JICA Malaria Control Project (Tanzania); serves as an Expert in Medical Zoology for the Onchocerciasis Research and Control Project (Guatemala); member of the WHO Onchocerciasis Control Programme Expert Advisory Committee.

Former Members:

Yves Bergevin (2001 - 2004)
Chief of Health - Programme Division
UNICEF
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

Dr. Mariam Claeson (2002 - 2004)
Lead Public Health Specialist
Health, Nutrition and Population
The World Bank
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

David L. Heymann, M.D. (2001 - 2008)
Executive Director
Representative of the Director-General for Polio Eradication
World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland

Jeff Koplan, M.D., M.P.H. (2001 - 2002)
Former Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Atlanta, Ga., U.S.A.

James Lovelace (2001 - 2002)
Former Director
Health, Nutrition and Population
Human Development Network
The World Bank
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

Pascal Villeneuve, M.D., M.Sc. (2003 - 2008)
Chief of Health
UNICEF
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

Julie Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H. (2002-2009)
Director
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Atlanta, Ga.,U.S.A.

Olusoji Adeyi, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H. (2005-2009)
Coordinator
Global Partnerships for Communicable Diseases
The World Bank
Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

Peter Salama, M.D., M.P.H. (2007-2009)
Chief of Health
UNICEF
New York, N.Y., U.S.A.