News Release

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Fogarty International Center Welcomes New Advisory Board Members

The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health has announced the appointment of six new members to its advisory board. Joining the board as voting members are Dr. Gail Cassell, Dr. Roscoe M. Moore, Jr., Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez and Dr. Bonita F. Stanton. Additionally, there are two new ex-officio members on the board, Dr. Barbara Alving, director of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at NIH and Dr. Donald Lindberg, Director of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) at NIH.

"We are honored that these outstanding scholars and clinicians would serve on Fogarty’s advisory board," said Fogarty director Dr. Roger I. Glass said of the appointments. "The diversity of their backgrounds is in keeping with the Center’s long tradition of tackling global health challenges from a multidisciplinary perspective."

Dr. Gail Cassell is the vice president of scientific affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for infectious diseases at Eli Lilly and Company. She is also a professor emeritus in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Additionally, she serves as senior scientist at UAB, both in the Center for AIDS Research and the Cystic Fybrosis Center. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Honor Award, "Partners in Public Health," and an award for outstanding research accomplishments by the International Organization for Mycoplasmology. She received her doctorate in microbiology from UAB.

Dr. Roscoe Moore, Jr. is a retired rear admiral with the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and a former assistant Surgeon General. During his last 12 years at USPHS, Dr. Moore was responsible for development support within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and served as the liaison between HHS and African ministries of health. Dr. Moore has conducted clinical research on a wide range of infectious diseases including Venezuelan equine encephalitis, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS. He earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Ala.

Dr. Ariel Pablos-Mendez is a managing director at the Rockefeller Foundation and a professor of clinical medicine and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City. Previously, he was director of knowledge management at the World Health Organization, specializing in fostering shared learning and social entrepreneurship to help bridge the know-do gap in global health. Dr. Pablos-Mendez began working with the Rockefeller Foundation in 1998 when he spearheaded the "Harnessing the New Sciences" program, which promoted product development for diseases of poverty through public-private partnerships. He received his medical degree from the University of Guadalajara’s School of Medicine in Mexico and his master’s in public health from Columbia University.

Dr. Bonita F. Stanton is the chair of pediatrics at Wayne State University in Detroit as well as chief pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. Previously, she served as a maternal child health specialist with the World Bank and directed the Urban Volunteer Program at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Bangladesh. She was a professor of pediatrics and later a division chief of general pediatrics at the University of Maryland Medical School in Baltimore. She received her medical degree at Yale University School of Medicine.

Dr. Barbara Alving is the director of NCRR as well as a professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. She is also a Master in the American College of Physicians and a previous member of the FDA Blood Products Advisory Committee. She was awarded the Legion of Merit by the U.S. Army for work that improved the care of soldiers in combat. She is a co-inventor on two patents, has edited three books, and has published more than 100 papers. Dr. Alving earned her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine.

Dr. Donald Lindberg has been the director of NLM since 1984 and is a pioneer in applying computer technology to health care. In 1996 he was appointed by the HHS Secretary to be the U.S. Coordinator for the G-7 Global Health Applications Project. Previously, he served as a technology adviser to the White House. Dr. Lindberg is the author of three books, several book chapters and more than 200 articles and reports. He received his medical degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University.

Fogarty’s advisory board is comprised of scientists, physicians and representatives from the global health community. The board provides advice on how the center’s resources may be most effectively utilized to advance research and research training in low-and middle-income countries. For more information visit:http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/advisory/index.htm

Fogarty, the international component of the NIH, addresses global health challenges through innovative and collaborative research and training programs and supports and advances the NIH mission through international partnerships. For more information, visit: www.fic.nih.gov.  

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

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