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—On the Frontiers of Research
Robert Blum, MD, MPH, PhD Robert Blum, MD, MPH, PhD Sir George Alleyne, MD, FRCP, FACP (Hon), (DScHon), OCC
Previous Position: Director, Pan American Health Organization Interests: inequity in health, health and development, gender discrimination Topping His Agenda: Sharing his experience in running programs on an international scale. Alleyne recalls the push to remove lead from gasoline: “That was a multi-country effort. PAHO provided a lot of background material to help the countries do it. To get it done you have to get the hardware, and you also have to get the countries together to find a common approach.” Favorite Part of the Job: “When I have an opportunity to interact with students, my endorphin levels rise. I like to engage them, draw them out, and get them to differ with me. I really get a kick out of it.” Rita R. Colwell, PhD
Previous Position: Director, National Science Foundation Interests: cholera, infectious disease, waterborne diseases Topping Her Agenda: Tackling global infectious diseases, especially waterborne diseases such as cholera. Strategy: Taking a holistic approach, rather than just focusing on the pathogen and patient. Pandemics, for example, are affected by climate, adverse weather events, ocean circulation, etc. By examining such factors, researchers can begin to predict the disease. With cholera, she says, “We know from satellite observations that when sea surface temperature increases in the Bay of Bengal, there is an increase in the number of cholera cases.” Long-Term Goal: “To have an international center on infectious diseases, water, and health to include colleagues working in Sweden, Norway, Japan, India, and Bangladesh.” Duff Gillespie, PhD
Previous Positions: Visiting Scholar, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Global Health Bureau, USAID Interests: family planning, reproductive health, child survival, HIV/AIDS Topping His Agenda: Promoting reproductive health and child survival activities and creating a knowledge base to inform health policy and programs. “Contraceptive use among the poorest of the poor is about half of what it is in the upper socio-economic strata,” he notes. “Our information shows they aren’t getting the information they need from NGOs or their governments.” Gillespie’s goal? To translate knowledge into action by making it accessible to policymakers. Favorite Part of the Job: “In international health you can actually see the impact [you make]. You can watch child mortality go down. You can watch fertility drop.” —Kristi Birch |
