Contact: Dionne Dougall-Bass/Burness Communications, 888-969-7446
WASHINGTON—January 14, 2009—Twenty-five of the nation's foremost experts in global health research will band together to advocate for greater U.S. investment in global health research. They join 50 of their peers in Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research in a united effort to build a national conversation around the value and importance of U.S.-funded global heath research.
The Rogers Society, named for the Honorable Paul G. Rogers (1921-2008), former Florida Congressman, renowned champion for health research, and Research!America chair emeritus, works to increase awareness of and make the case for greater U.S. investment in research to fight diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest nations.
These prominent scientist-advocates include experts in pediatrics, nursing and dentistry who specialize in critical areas, including neglected and emerging tropical diseases, TB and polio. They were selected by an advisory council comprised of renowned leaders in science, public policy and communications, including four Nobel Laureates. Together with their peers, they will meet with their policymakers to make the case for an increased U.S. investment in global health research.
"We have a new Congress and a new Administration. Now is the time when we can make a difference for global health research. These Ambassadors will be exceptional leaders in advocacy. Their example will serve as an inspiration for every global health researcher," said the Honorable John Edward Porter, chair of the Rogers Society Advisory Council and Research!America board chair. "Paul Rogers' spirit lives on through the work of each of these Ambassadors. As he often said, without research, there is no hope."
The Society was established in 2006 by Research!America with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Research!America works with the Ambassadors to maximize the effectiveness of their outreach to policy makers, opinion leaders and the media.
Research!America is the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance working to make research to improve health a higher national priority. Founded in 1989, it is supported by 500 member organizations, which represent more than 125 million Americans. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org.
The new Ambassadors in the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research:
Linda H. Aiken, PhD, RN
Director, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Michele Barry, MD
Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine
Barry Beaty, PhD
University Distinguished Professor, Colorado State University
David Bloom, PhD
Chair, Department of Global Health and Population, Harvard School of Public Health
Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN
Anna D. Wolf Chair and Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Daniel G. Colley, PhD
Professor and Director, Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia
Frank H. Collins, PhD
Clark Professor of Biology, University of Notre Dame
Walter R. Dowdle, PhD
Director, Poliovirus Antivirals Initiative, The Task Force for Child Survival and Development
Cyril O. Enwonwu, ScD, MDS, PhD
Professor of Biomedical Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Maryland
Pierce Gardner, MD
Professor of Medicine and Public Health, Stony Brook University School of Medicine
Anne Goldfeld, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Immune Disease Institute, Harvard Medical School
Patricia Hibberd, MD, PhD
Director, Center for Global Health Research, Tufts University
Adnan A. Hyder, MD, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
James W. Kazura, MD
Director and Professor, Center for Global Health and Diseases, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Kelli Kuhen, PhD
Senior Research Investigator, Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation
Richard R. Love, MD
Professor of Internal Medicine and Public Health, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Carole D. Mitnick, ScD
Instructor in Global Health & Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Keith Norris, MD
Executive Vice President for Research and Health Affairs, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
Richard Parker, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Mark Rasenick, PhD
Distinguished UIC Professor of Physiology & Biophysics and Psychiatry, University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine
Scott Ratzan, MD
Vice President, Global Health, Johnson & Johnson
Steven G. Reed, PhD
Founder, Head of Research and Development, Infectious Disease Research Institute
Lee Reichman, MD, MPH
Executive Director, Global Tuberculosis Institute, New Jersey Medical School, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Mark L. Rosenberg, MD
Executive Director, The Task Force for Child Survival and Development
Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH
Director, Health Systems Program and Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health