Trachoma Control Program Staff

Paul Emerson, Ph.D., Director, Trachoma Control Program
Dr. Emerson joined The Carter Center as director for the Trachoma Control Program in November 2004. He has spent nearly a decade devoted to operational research and program evaluation in support of the global effort to control trachoma.

Before joining The Carter Center, Dr. Emerson was a research fellow at the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. There he was the principal investigator for evaluations of Helen Keller International and World Vision trachoma control programs in Morocco, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nepal, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Ethiopia in addition to leading operational research in The Gambia and lecturing.

Previously, as principal investigator, Dr. Emerson led the United Kingdom Medical Research Council in The Gambia in conducting the first rigorous study establishing the importance of flies in trachoma transmission and the impact of latrines on trachoma control. He also has led a project to write a practical toolbox for trachoma program managers to implement the "F" and "E" components of the SAFE strategy for trachoma control: Surgery; Antibiotic treatment; Facial cleanliness/hygiene promotion; and Environmental improvement. Read full bio >

Aryc Mosher, M.P.H., Assistant Director, Trachoma Control Program
Mr. Mosher supports the Carter Center's efforts in assisting the national programs to control trachoma in the six African countries:  Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Sudan.  Prior to this position, Mr. Mosher served as resident technical adviser in Ghana for the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program in 2004-2005, assistant director of the program until 2007, and assistant director of the Malaria Control Program for two years, 2008-2009.

Prior to joining The Carter Center, Mr. Mosher worked for a nonprofit agency dedicated to improving the quality of life for migrant and seasonal farm workers throughout Michigan.  Mr. Mosher gained extensive field experience spending more than 15 years volunteering, working, and researching in Mali, West Africa, beginning as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in 1990.  In 2001, he worked for the Stop Transmission of Polio Campaign in Chad.

Mr. Mosher received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from Michigan State University and a master's degree in public health in epidemiology from the University of Michigan.  In 1998, Mr. Mosher was awarded a National Security and Education Program Fellowship, which supported public health research in Mali.

Lisa Dickman, M.P.H., Assistant Director, Trachoma Control Program
Ms. Dickman is responsible for the regular monitoring and evaluation of program activities and provides support to the national blindness prevention programs in Carter Center-assisted countries. She also supports the management of program grants and has an interest in operational research.

Prior to joining The Carter Center, she served with the U.S. Peace Corps in The Gambia from 2008 to 2010, where she taught community health nurses, created a new community health information system in the Lower River region, and researched stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS.
In addition to extensive teaching experience, Ms. Dickman also has expertise in building participatory community health campaigns, especially among the Crow Native American tribe in Montana, as well as in improving sanitation services for primary schools in Kenya.

Ms. Dickman earned bachelor's degrees in biology and Spanish from the University of Portland and a master's degree in public health from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Jonathan King, M.S.P.H., Epidemiologist, Trachoma Control Program
As program epidemiologist, Mr. King provides scientific support to the Center's trachoma program.

Mr. King comes to The Carter Center with seven years of applied public health experience from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mr. King worked with the Parasitic Diseases Branch where he focused efforts on the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in the Pacific. Through CDC and the International Trachoma Initiative, he helped research integration between the global programs to eliminate lymphatic filariasis and blinding trachoma. In addition, Mr. King served as resident epidemiologist for the American Samoa Department of Health.

He is a graduate of the Public Health Prevention Service, a three-year training program of the CDC. During the program, he completed assignments with the Division of International Health, Division of Parasitic Diseases, and a two-year field assignment with the Hillsborough County Health Department in Tampa, Fla. He received the 2002 PHPS Award for Distinguished Service and Achievement.

Mr. King completed his undergraduate studies in applied biology at Georgia Institute of Technology and obtained a Master of Science in public health degree in epidemiology from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

Stephanie Palmer, Program Development Coordinator, Trachoma Control Program
Ms. Palmer supports the trachoma program by acting as a liaison between program staff, field offices, and consultants. She provides support to the publication of peer-reviewed articles, serves as study coordinator for operational research initiatives, and maintains program files and databases.  Ms. Palmer is also responsible for the coordination of program-sponsored meetings and events.
 
Ms. Palmer brings more than five years of public health experience to the trachoma program. Her most recent experience before joining The Carter Center was with the Wyoming Department of Health Communicable Disease Section. In 2006 and 2007, she was the Carter Center's technical adviser to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program for the districts of Tillaberi and Ouallam, Niger. From 2001-2004, she served as a community health and AIDS prevention volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa.
 
Ms. Palmer earned a bachelor's degree in French and religion from Cornell College. She is pursuing a master's degree in public health at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and plans to graduate in May 2013.