Sam Pitroda
Chairman; Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure & Innovations
Sam Pitroda is an internationally respected development thinker, telecom inventor and entrepreneur who has spent 44 years in Information and Communications Technology and related human and national developments. Cred with having laid the foundation for and ushered India’s technology and telecommunications revolution in the 1980s, Mr. Pitroda has been a leading campaigner to help bridge the global digital divide. During his tenure as Advisor to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the 1980s Mr. Pitroda headed six technology missions related to telecommunications, water, literacy, immunization, dairy, and oil seeds. He was also the founder and first chairman of India’s Telecom Commission.
Mr. Pitroda was Chairman of India’s National Knowledge Commission (2005-2009), an advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, set up to provide a blueprint for reform of the knowledge related institutions and infrastructure in the country. The Commission has offered a series of recommendations on various aspects of the knowledge paradigm to help India meet the challenges of the 21st century.
He is currently Advisor to the Prime Minister of India on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations. He holds close to 100 worldwide patents and has published and lectured widely in the US, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Sara Farley
Chief Operating Officer
Sara E. Farley is an internationally recognized science, technology, and innovation strategist. She has been commissioned by national governments (Brazil, Canada, Slovenia, and the UK), and international development and science-related affinity organizations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation, to lead thinking, develop networks, and devise policies to strengthen developing countries' science and technology capacity. After co-authoring the World Bank's new Science and Technology Strategy for Development with Chief Scientist, Robert Watson in 2001, she helped the institution design and launch its first Africa-based science and technology project. More recently, the World Bank relied on Sara as a science and technology strategist in operations across Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. She has been an advisor and senior consultant to the African Development Bank, where she helped to craft the institution’s new Higher Education, Science, Technology and TVET Strategy. In 2007 and 2008, Sara worked with UNIDO to establish its first-ever policy position on innovation. Sara has also worked with SRI International, UNCTAD, the Rockefeller Foundation, and other organizations to develop science, technology, and innovation strategy and policy and guide aid delivery and operations.
Prior to joining the World Bank, Sara graduated with honors in Science, Technology, and Society from Stanford University’s School of Engineering where she also earned a Masters degree in International Policy Studies. She spent time at the University of Queensland studying and working in chemical engineering. Following her time at Stanford and a stint working for a wireless start-up in Silicon Valley, she was a Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellow at the Universidad de Buenos Aires where she conducted post-graduate study in Technology Policy and Management. Sara also founded Uganda Arts Outreach, Inc. and serves on the Board of Lesole’s Dance Project and the Global Alliance for Linkages in Science (GALS). Sara’s list of presentations and publications includes more than 30 monographs, strategies and policy papers, including two global landscape analyses of donor support to science and technology for development, the first sponsored by the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, and Canada’s IDRC as an input to the 2005 G8 Summit, the second supported by UNCTAD as a Background Study for the UN’s Least Developed Countries Report of 2007. She also authored the World Bank’s Uganda Science and Technology Sector Assessment and similar reports on Nigeria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia with two forthcoming studies, also to be published by the World Bank, addressing STI in industry in Mozambique and in Uganda.
Amanda L. Rose
Program Officer
Amanda joined the Global Knowledge Initiative team in 2009. At GKI, Amanda supports the design, implementation, and management of the organization's growing portfolio of international programs. She serves as the coordinating lead for LINK Round II Afghanistan-Pakistan and as a facilitator for GKI's international collaborative innovation skills training program. Amanda also provides in-depth research and analysis into global trends in scientific research networks, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education and training, and knowledge creation and diffusion.
Prior to joining the Global Knowledge Initiative, Amanda served in the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State and the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (STAS), where she worked on issues related to international development, global food security, and science diplomacy. She was previously employed at the Center for Science, Technology and Security Policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as the Assistant Director of the Caldwell Fellows Program at the North Carolina State University.
Amanda received her Master's degree in International Science and Technology Policy from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University in Washington, DC in 2009. Her degree concentration was in international security and development, specifically on the role science and technology can play to promote stability and cooperation in fragile environments. She graduated summa cum laude from the North Carolina State University in 2006 and 2007, with degrees in Chemistry and Interdisciplinary Studies, respectively.
Dr. Caroline Wagner
Senior GKI Fellow
Dr. Caroline S. Wagner specializes in science and technology and its relationship to innovation, policy, and society. She is a Senior Analyst at SRI International and a Research Scientist at the George Washington University Center for International Science and Technology Policy. She is the author of the book The New Invisible College: Science for Development, Brookings Press, 2007.
During her 25 year career in science policy, she has held a number of analytic and policy positions. At the RAND Corporation, she was deputy to the Director of the Science & Technology Policy Institute, a research center serving the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Prior to joining RAND, Dr. Wagner was a Professional Staff Member for the United States Congress Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and before that, in the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. She has served as an analyst for the United States federal government analyzing global developments in science and technology. Dr. Wagner has consulted for the World Bank, the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the US National Science Foundation and a number of governments. She was a member of the United Nations Millennium Development Task Force on Science, Technology, and Innovation and a primary author of that task force’s report.
She holds a doctorate from the University of Amsterdam in Science & Technology Dynamics; an M.A. from GWU in Science, Technology and Public Policy; and a B.A. in Philosophy from Trinity University. Dr. Wagner was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2006. She is the author of more than 20 monographs that can be found on RAND’s website and a number of journal articles.
Andrew Gerard
Program Officer
Andrew Gerard has worked with the Global Knowledge Initiative since 2010. While working with GKI, Andrew completed a Master of Public Policy degree at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute, with an emphasis in international policy and development. At Georgetown, he completed his master's thesis entitled "Governance Returns to Education: Do Expected Years of Schooling Predict Governance Quality?".
Prior to joining the Global Knowledge Initiative, Andrew served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Benton Harbor, Michigan. There he worked with Harbor Habitat for Humanity on resource development and community relations. Andrew graduated magna cum laude from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan, with a Bachelor of Science in behavioral sciences and an emphasis in anthropology. While at Andrews University, Andrew worked as a research assistant in the Anthropology Department. He undertook oral history research in England and Jordan, presenting his original research at multiple professional conferences. Following his baccalaureate graduation, Andrew organized a feasibility study in Amman, Jordan for Project Rainkeep, a water-harvesting program planned by Andrews University. Andrew also has experience working in Honduras where he assisted a group of researchers from the Central American Livelihoods and Higher Education Pilot Study.
Christina Kang
Knowledge Service Corps Envoy
Christina Kang currently resides in Iraq where she works as a Research Assistant for the Institute for Defense Analyses in their Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI), consulting on science and technology policy issues for the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the White House, and other US governmental institutions and agencies. She joined STPI in 2008 after completing a Bachelor's degree in brain and cognitive science and a minor in applied international studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has also served as a Senior Executive of Institutional Affairs for the Next Billion Network, where she worked to create partnerships with community members, companies, academic groups, and individuals to brainstorm and develop projects for information and communication technologies for the developing world.
A freelance photographer and writer, Christina designed a project to document people, cultures, development issues, and development work by students through photography, film, and writing in India, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and China. For example, in 2005, she organized support from 11 departments at the Massachusetts Institute of technology; raised funding for travel, equipment, and living expenses; and connected and worked with seven development organizations to document their efforts.
Courtney O'Brien
Junior Program Officer
Courtney joined the Global Knowledge Initiative in 2011. At GKI, Courtney serves as a researcher, facilitator, and project manager, contributing to programs including LINK (the Learning and Innovation Network for Knowledge and Solutions) Afghanistan-Pakistan and trainings on innovation systems for researchers, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.
Courtney holds a Master of Public Policy from Georgetown University with a focus on international policy and development. Her thesis analyzed the effects of maternal learning on child health outcomes, as seen in a sweet potato based nutrition intervention aimed at increasing Vitamin A intake in Mozambican children. Before joining GKI, Courtney interned in Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Consulate in Leipzig, Germany. She also has worked for the Google Book Settlement and the German Bundestag. Courtney graduated from Marquette University in 2007 with degrees in International Affairs and German. After graduation, she studied German education policy as a Fulbright Fellow in Frankfurt, Germany.
Andrew Bergmanson
International Program Intern
Andrew is currently a Masters Student at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), studying international relations and international economics, and specializing in conflict management. His main interest is in political economy and its implications for development.
Andrew graduated from Brown University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations. While at Brown, Andrew studied Political Economy and Development, focusing particularly on Russia, Eurasia, and Asia. He also interned at the U.S. Embassy in Dili, East Timor through the US Department of State. Andrew served as the Chair of Admissions and Student Services for the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students and met with Rhode Island state senators, city council members, and citizens across the state as part of the Rhode Islanders for Fair Elections network.
Jason Clark
International Program Intern
Jason Clark is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy degree at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute with a specialization in international policy and development. His main areas of interest are the effects of prolonged aid in developing countries and economic development, focusing on equality and women’s empowerment. Prior to joining GKI, Jason worked as a Senior Auditor at the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) where he conducted audits for many of the nation’s leading newspapers and magazines.
Jason graduated from the University of Illinois in 2006 with degrees in accountancy and finance. After growing up in Chicago, he moved to Los Angeles where he spent five years working for ABC. In addition to his commitments at GKI and Georgetown, Jason is pursuing fluency in French.
Peter Glover
LINK Program Intern
Peter is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in international affairs at American University's School of International Studies (SIS). He specifically focuses on governance and development in Africa, and is most interested in how political institutions shape economic development in African countries.
Peter graduated from American University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in international relations. At AU Peter studied international development and economics, and focused on East Africa. In 2011 Peter interned with Meridian International, where he helped to coordinate international exchange programs. While abroad in Nairobi, Kenya in 2010, Peter studied at the United States International University (USIU). In Nairobi he interned with Action Now Kenya (ANK), a small microfinance organization working in Nairobi's informal settlements, where he designed a microfinance program aimed at improving access to secondary education for the residents of informal settlements.
Doris Hang Yin
Fundraising and Business Development Intern
Doris Hang Yin joined GKI in 2012, where she provides support on fundraising, strategic planning, and philanthropy research. Prior to joining GKI, Doris worked at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Beijing office for one year, assisting in conference planning and policy research on global climate change.
Doris is currently a student at Georgetown University's Public Policy Institute (GPPI), specializing in international development. Her main interests are social finance, impact investing, and corporate social responsibility in emerging markets. During the summer of 2012, Doris joined GPPI's overseas program at Oxford University, where she conducted research on microfinance and social finance under the guidance of scholars and practitioners from the World Bank, CGAP, the Oxford Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship, and management consulting firms. Doris graduated from Beijing University's School of International Studies with a bachelor degree in International Politics and an Economics minor from the China Center for Economics Research (CCER) in 2011.
Board of Advisers:
Nina V. Fedoroff (Co-Chair of Advisory Board)
Former Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State, US
Nina V. Fedoroff received her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Rockefeller University. After doing post-doctoral work, Fedoroff joined the faculties of the Carnegie Institution of Washington (now the Carnegie Institution for Science) and the Johns Hopkins University. Fedoroff moved to the Pennsylvania State University in 1995, where she served as the Director of the Biotechnology Institute and the founding Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, a consortium of colleges devoted to the promotion of multidisciplinary research and teaching in the life sciences. She is the Willaman Professor of Life Sciences and an Evan Pugh Professor at Penn State, as well as a member of the External Faculty of the Santa Fe Institute. She serves as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. She is also currently the President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Fedoroff has published two books and more than 130 papers in scientific journals. She has served on the boards of the International Science Foundation, the Genetics Society of America, and the Sigma Aldrich Corporation. She has also served on the Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Board. She is a member the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology. Fedoroff received the University of Chicago's Howard Taylor Ricketts Award in 1990, the New York Academy of Sciences' Outstanding Contemporary Woman Scientist award in 1992, the Sigma Xi's McGovern Science and Society Medal in 1997, Syracuse University's Arents Pioneer Medal in 2003, and a National Medal of Science in 2006.
Ismail Serageldin (Co-Chair of Advisory Board)
Director, Library of Alexandria, Egypt
Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Library of Alexandria, also chairs the Boards of Directors for each of the Library's affiliated research institutes and museums. He serves as Chair and Member of a number of advisory committees for academic, research, scientific and international institutions and civil society efforts that includes the Institut d'Egypte (Egyptian Academy of Science), TWAS (Academy of Sciences for the Developing World), the Indian National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. He is former Chairman, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR, 1994-2000), Founder and former Chairman, the Global Water Partnership (GWP, 1996-2000) and the Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP), a microfinance program (1995-2000) and was Distinguished Professor at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. In May 2011, he will receive the Public Welfare Medal, the National Academy of Sciences' most prestigious award, which annually honors the person that most exemplifies and champions the use of science for the public good.
Dr. Serageldin has also served in a number of capacities at the World Bank, including as Vice President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development (1992-1998), and for Special Programs (1998-2000). He has published over 60 books and monographs and over 200 papers on a variety of topics including biotechnology, rural development, sustainability, and the value of science to society. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Cairo University and both a Master's degree and a Ph.D. from Harvard University. He has received 26 honorary doctorates.
Frank Brady
Founder and CEO, Medical Missions for Children, US
Mr. Frank Brady is a co-founder, along with his wife Peg, of Medical Missions for Children and serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and CEO. He serves on the Program Committee of Operation Smile and as a Trustee of the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation. Mr. Brady spent most of his professional career with CGE, a French conglomerate. He organized projects and arranged financing for international business consortiums composed of major European, Asian and American companies who partnered on large international contracts.
Medical Missions for Children (MMC) provides telemedicine services for children in 108 countries and since 1999 has helped more than 25,000 children with both diagnostic and treatment consults. In 2003, the MMC Mission Statement was expanded to include “transferring medical knowledge from those who have it to those who need it”. This resulted in the launching of a FCC licensed Global Television Network, the Medical Broadcasting Channel (MBC), the Global Video Library of Medicine, and Giggles Children’s Theater. Additionally, MMC produces four health related television programs for the PBS Network to further patient awareness.
Vinton Cerf
Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist, Google, US
Vinton G. Cerf is vice president and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google. He is responsible for identifying new enabling technologies and applications on the Internet and other platforms for the company. Widely known as a “father of the Internet,” Vint is the co-designer with Robert Kahn of the TCP/IP protocols and basic architecture of the Internet. In 1997, President Clinton recognized their work with the U.S. National Medal of Technology. In 2005, Vint and Bob received the highest civilian honor bestowed in the US: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
From 1994-2005, Vint served as Senior Vice President at MCI. Prior to that, he was Vice President of the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, and from 1982-86 he served as a Vice President of MCI. During his tenure with the U.S. Department of Defense’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from 1976-1982, Vint played a key role leading the development of Internet and Internet-related data packet and security technologies. Since 2000, Vint has served as chairman of the board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and he has been a Visiting Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 1998. Vint is a Fellow of the IEEE, ACM, AAAS, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the International Engineering Consortium, the Computer History Museum and the National Academy of Engineering. Vint has received numerous awards and commendations in connection with his work on the Internet, including the Marconi Fellowship, Charles Stark Draper award of the National Academy of Engineering, the Prince of Asturias award for science and technology, and the Alexander Graham Bell Award. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from UCLA and more than a dozen honorary degrees.
Mohamed Hassan
Former Executive Director, The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS); President, African Academy of Sciences, Italy
Mohamed Hassan is currently head of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), but is retiring in 2011 after 25 years of dedicated service. He is also president of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). He serves as secretary general of the Third World Network of Scientific Organizations. One of Africa's most distinguished scientists, Hassan was born in the Sudan and holds a Ph.D. degree in plasma physics from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom (1974).
A former professor and dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Khartoum, he received the order of scientific merit of Brazil and the order of merit of Italy. He is a fellow of TWAS, AAS, and the Islamic Academy of Science; honorary member of the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical, and Natural Sciences and the Palestine Academy of Science and Technology; corresponding member of the Belgian Royal Overseas Academy of Sciences; and foreign fellow of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences. His research areas include theoretical plasma physics, physics of wind erosion, and sand transport. Hassan has been a key player in introducing research on climate issues, especially how climate affects the lives of the most underserved populations.
Calestous Juma
Chair, UN Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation; Professor, Harvard University, US
Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at Harvard University. He also directs the Agricultural Innovation in Africa Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Founding Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi, and he also served as Chancellor of the University of Guyana.
He has been elected to several scientific academies including the Royal Society of London, the US National Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World, and the UK Royal Academy of Engineering. He has won several international awards for his work on sustainable development. He holds a PhD in science and technology policy studies and has written widely on science, technology, and environment. He teaches courses in developmental policy as part of the MPA/ID Program. He is lead author of Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development. He is editor of the International Journal of Technology and Globalisation and International Journal of Biotechnology.
Kiyoshi Kurokawa
Former Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Japan
Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa is Professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, and Founding Chairman of Health Policy Institute, Japan, an independent think-tank promoting healthcare reform. Among his many prestigious positions, he served as Science Advisor to the Cabinet and Prime Minister of Japan (2006-08); and a Commissioner on the World Health Organization’s Commission for Social Determinants of Health (2005-08).
Dr. Kurokawa received his MD degree from the University of Tokyo, was trained in internal medicine and nephrology in Tokyo, then moved to the US where he pursued his professional career in 1969-84. He was Professor of Medicine at various Departments of Medicine including the School of Medicine of UCLA (79-84), the University of Tokyo (89-96), and Dean of Tokai University School of Medicine (96-02). He has served as an executive officer of many professional societies. He served as the Chairman and President of the Japanese Society of Internal Medicine and President of the International Society of Nephrology and the Japanese Society of Nephrology. Dr. Kurokawa was the President of the Science Council of Japan (02-06), of the Pacific Science Association (03-06) and of Science Council of Asia. He is an Executive Member of InterAcademy Panel and InterAcademy Council. Dr Kurokawa is an elected member of, among many associations,the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies of Science and the Association of American Physicians. He joined other leaders of the G8 science academies in presenting to the Heads of G8 States a call for action on “Global Climate Change and Africa” in 2005, which was implemented by the G8.
Alan I. Leshner
Chief Executive Officer, American Association for the Advancement of
Science and Executive Publisher, Science
Dr. Leshner has been Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Executive Publisher of the journal Science since December 2001. Before coming to AAAS, Dr. Leshner was Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) from 1994-2001. One of the scientific institutes of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, NIDA supports over 85% of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. Before becoming Director of NIDA, Dr. Leshner had been the Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. He went to NIMH from the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he held a variety of senior positions, focusing on basic research in the biological, behavioral and social sciences, science policy and science education. Dr. Leshner went to NSF after 10 years at Bucknell University, where he was Professor of Psychology. He has also held long-term appointments at the Postgraduate Medical School in Budapest, Hungary; at the Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center; and as a Fulbright Scholar at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Dr. Leshner is the author of a textbook on the relationship between hormones and behavior, and has published over 150 papers for both the scientific and lay communities on the biology of behavior, science and technology policy, science education, and public engagement with science. He is an elected fellow of AAAS, the National Academy of Public Administration, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and many other professional societies. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science and Vice-Chair of its governing Council. He was appointed to the National Science Board by President Bush in 2004 and reappointed by President Obama in 2011. Dr. Leshner holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from Franklin and Marshall College, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in physiological psychology from Rutgers University.
Romain Murenzi
Former Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Scientific Research, Rwanda; Executive Director, The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS)
Romain Murenzi becomes the executive director of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) in 2011. He is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS), Senior Scholar at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and Visiting Professor within the Physics Department at Howard University since August 2009.
Dr. Murenzi served as the Chairman of the Physics Department at Clark Atlanta University from 1999 to 2001, the Minister of Education, Science, Technology, and Scientific Research of Rwanda from August 2001 to March 2006, and the Minister in the Rwandan President's Office in Charge of Science, Technology, and Scientific Research from March 2006 to July 2009. Murenzi serves on the Council of Third World Academy of Science (TWAS) as Vice-President for Africa, the Advisory Board of Scientists Without Borders, as a board member on the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), South Africa, and a member of the Scientific Board of the UNESCO International Basic Science Program.
Atta-ur-Rahman
Coordinator General, COMSTECH (OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation); Former Minister of Science and Technology, Pakistan
Dr Atta-ur-Rahman obtained his Ph.D. from Cambridge University (1968) and was later honored as a Doctor of Science (Sc.D.). He has been widely published in several fields of organic chemistry, with some 480 research publications, 15 patents, 93 books, and 59 chapters in books published by major US and European presses to his name.
He is the first scientist from the Muslim world to have won the prestigious UNESCO Science Prize (1999). The Government of Pakistan has conferred four civil awards on him, including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (1983), Sitara-i-Imtiaz (1991), Hilal-i-Imtiaz (1998) and the highest national civil award Nishan-i-Imtiaz (2002). He was elected a Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006. Dr Atta-ur-Rahman was the Federal Minister for Science and Technology of Pakistan and Federal Minister/Chairman of the Higher Education Commission. He is now the Coordinator General of COMSTECH, an OIC Ministerial Committee. Dr Atta-ur-Rahman is also the President of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the Network of Academies of Sciences of Islamic Countries (NASIC).
Elias Zerhouni
Former Director, National Institutes of Health, US
Elias Zerhouni earned his medical degree in 1975 from the University of Algiers. After completing his residency in diagnostic radiology at Johns Hopkins in 1978 as chief resident, he was later named director of the Department of Radiology. During the following years, he rose rapidly within Hopkins, assuming additional duties as vice dean for clinical affairs and president of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Practice Association, vice dean for research and executive vice dean for the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine until his nomination as the 15th director of the NIH by the president of the United States with confirmation by the U.S. Senate in April 2002. Under his leadership, the NIH embarked on a number of initiatives, chief among them the Roadmap for Medical Research, designed to enhance synergy and collaborative work among all 27 NIH institutes and centers. Other new programs included those designed to foster high-risk but potentially high-impact research, and enhanced support for young career scientists.
Zerhouni now serves as a Senior Advisor to Johns Hopkins Medicine. He recently accepted a position as Senior Fellow for Global Health at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the Lasker Foundation, Research America, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and the Mayo Clinic Foundation. He was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Science in 2000.
Web Development Team:
John Riehl
President and COO, Medical Missions for Children
Mr. Riehl joined Medical Missions for Children in June 2004. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, he is responsible for the management of all aspects of the organization's day-to-day operations, thereby providing leadership and support to all components of the Medical Missions for Children mission. He previously served with AmeriCares where he headed the organization's International Medical Services Division. Prior to his entry into the non-profit sector, Mr. Riehl worked in the information technology sector, where he managed the sales and marketing activities for a software development firm, and then was appointed to the position of Information Technology Director and Chief Information Officer for a 250-attorney law firm headquartered in Boston, MA.
Mr. Riehl earned his Bachelor's degree from the University of Scranton and graduated with honors from the Business School at the University of Connecticut. In the year 2000, he was awarded the honor of "Most Distinguished Catholic School Graduate" by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and was also inducted into his High School Hall of Fame in 2002. For five years, Mr. Riehl was a guest lecturer at Yale University's Medical School within their Department of Public Health.
Rhoda Ndirangu
Web Designer and Digital Artist, Concept2Reality
Erin Brady
Graphic Designer and Digital Artist, Concept2Reality
