Paul Emerson, Ph.D.
Director, Trachoma Control Program; Co-Director, Malaria Control Program

Dr. Emerson joined The Carter Center as director for the Trachoma Control Program in November 2004 and was named co-director of the Malaria Control Program in 2006.  He oversees trachoma program activities in Mali, Nigeria, Ghana, Niger, Sudan, and Southern Sudan as well as the integrated trachoma and malaria control program in Ethiopia. He has spent nearly two decades devoted to operational research, program evaluation, and program management in support of the global efforts to control trachoma and malaria.  Dr. Emerson became an adjunct assistant professor at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health in 2009.

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 on global health.

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, the impact of latrines on trachoma control, and vector management for malaria control. He also has led  projects to write a practical toolbox for trachoma program managers to implement the "F" and "E" components of the SAFE strategy (PDF) for trachoma control and a manual on "Women and Trachoma (PDF)."

Dr. Emerson holds a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of Durham and a master's degree in applied parasitology and medical entomology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. A fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and of the Royal Entomological Society, Dr. Emerson has authored more than 50 scientific papers.