Vaccines and Therapeutics
Publications of the Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force express the findings, results, and views of members of the Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force. They do not reflect the findings, results, and views of Commissioners not engaged on the Task Force or of the Lancet family of journals or other publication outlets unless explicitly specified. The Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force does not contribute to other publications or statements issued by the Lancet COVID-19 Commission or the Task Forces or to other publications in the Lancet family of journals or other publication outlets, unless explicitly specified.
Task Force members serve in their individual capacities, on an honorary basis. The Secretariat of the Vaccines and Therapeutics Task Force is hosted by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) and the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD), Columbia University.
Task Force Publications:
Members:
Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi (Co-chair) Associate Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine (USA)
Maria Elena Bottazzi, PhD is Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Co-director of Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She is an internationally recognized vaccinologist with more than two decades of experience advancing product development partnerships. MORE
Dr. Peter Hotez (Co-chair) Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine (USA)
Peter Hotez MD Ph.D. is a professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development and Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics. He is a vaccine scientist who led the development of vaccines to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases and coronavirus infections. MORE
Dr. Carolina Batista International Board, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Head of Global Health Affairs at Baraka Impact Finance (Brazil)
Carolina Batista, MD, is a member of the International Board of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Head of Global Health Affairs at Baraka Impact Finance. She holds expertise in global health, R&D, and infectious and neglected diseases. MORE
Dr. Onder Ergonul Chair, Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology; Director, Koç University İş Bank Research Center for Infectious Diseases (Turkey)
Professor Ergonul is the chair of the Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (ID&CM) in Koç University, School of Medicine (2011-) and director of Koç University İş Bank Research Center for Infectious Diseases (2020-). He graduated from Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara in 1989. MORE
Dr. Peter Figueroa Professor of Public Health, Epidemiology and HIV/AIDS at the University of the West Indies, Kingston (Jamaica)
J. Peter Figueroa is Professor of Public Health, Epidemiology and HIV/AIDS at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica where he has led the development of a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) program. He was the National Epidemiologist in Jamaica and led the National HIV/STI Program from its outset in 1986 until 2008. He served as Chief Medical Officer from 1997–2002. MORE
Dr. Sarah Gilbert Professor of Vaccinology, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford (UK)
Sarah Gilbert is Professor of Vaccinology in the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of East Anglia and her doctoral degree at the University of Hull. Following four years as a research scientist at the biopharmaceutical company Delta Biotechnology she joined Oxford University in 1994 and became part of the Jenner Institute (within NDM) when it was founded in 2005. MORE
Prof. Mayda Gursel Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Middle East Technical University (Turkey)
Mayda Gursel is a Professor at Middle East Technical University, Dept. of Biological Sciences in Ankara, Turkey. Dr. Gursel’s research is focused on pattern recognition receptor ligands and their therapeutic applications as immune modulators and vaccine adjuvants. Dr. Gursel graduated from METU Dept. of Biological Sciences in 1987. MORE
Prof. Mazen Hassanain Professor of Surgery at the College of Medicine, King Saud University (Saudi Arabia)
Professor Mazen M. Hassanain is a founder and the Managing Director for SaudiVax, a biotechnology company responsible for the manufacturing of high quality & affordable halal vaccines & biopharmaceuticals localized in Saudi Arabia by Saudi nationals for national self-sufficiency and pandemic preparedness. MORE
Prof. Gagandeep Kang Professor, Division of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College (India)
Professor Kang is a physician scientist working on vaccines and public health, particularly focused on children and enteric infectious disease in India. Her inter-disciplinary research on the transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India has led to new insights and practical approaches to prevention. MORE
Dr. David C. Kaslow Chief Scientific Officer, PATH Essential Medicines & Head, PATH Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access (USA)
David C. Kaslow, MD serves as Chief Scientific Officer, PATH Essential Medicines, and Head of PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access (CVIA). As CVIA Head, David leads PATH’s work to advance immunization equity and vaccination coverage to reduce vaccine- preventable diseases through increasing and improving accessibility, affordability, availability, acceptability, and sustainability of existing and new essential vaccines for routine immunization. MORE
Dr. Jerome Kim Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University (South Korea)
Jerome H. Kim, M.D., is the Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and an Adjunct Professor, Graduate School of Public Health, Yonsei University. He served as the Principal Deputy, MHRP as well as the Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis and the Project Manager, HIV Vaccines Project Management Office, U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity. MORE
Dr. Bhavna Lall Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Houston—College of Medicine (USA)
Bhavna Lall, MD, MPH, MPA is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at the University of Houston College of Medicine. Dr. Lall is an internal medicine physician with a diverse background in global public health, medicine, and public administration. Previously, she has worked as a primary care physician at Brigham and Women's and Faulkner Hospital and as an internal medicine hospitalist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA. MORE
Dr. Heidi Larson Professor of Anthropology, Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (UK)
Heidi J. Larson, PhD, is Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science and is the Founding Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She is also Clinical Professor of Health Metrics Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, USA, and Guest Professor at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. MORE
Dr. Denise Naniche Scientific Director and Research professor at ISGlobal (Spain)
Denise Naniche is Scientific Director and Research professor at ISGlobal. She is an internationally recognized researcher in clinical immunology and epidemiology of viral infections, particularly in Measles and HIV. She also coordinates the Masters course in Vaccines and Global Health at the University of Barcelona. Her broad background in applied immunology and clinical epidemiology have led her to conduct multidisciplinary research focused on improving access to HIV diagnosis, treatment and control in Sub-Saharan Africa and particularly in Mozambique. MORE
Dr. Timothy Sheahan Assistant Professor in Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA)
Dr. Sheahan is an NIH funded virologist working at the host pathogen interface to develop new methods of viral control. After receiving his bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the University of New Hampshire in 1999, he moved to Boston to try to make a career in music but soon realized he enjoyed pipetting more than playing guitar. MORE
Dr. Shmuel Shoham Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Director of the Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (USA)
Shmuel Shoham, M.D. is Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Associate Director of the Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases program at that institution. He received his medical degree from Thomas Jefferson University (Philadelphia, PA) and medical residency and infectious diseases fellowship training at Boston University School of Medicine. MORE
Dr. Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft Director, Neglected Tropical Diseases, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (Switzerland)
Dr. Nathalie Strub-Wourgaft joined Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) in 2009 and is member of the Executive Team as Neglected tropical Diseases (NTDs) and COVID Director. She holds over 30 years’ experience in R&D. As Director of NTDs since 2018, Dr Strub-Wourgaft provides strategic and technical oversight to a wide portfolio of R&D and access plans for therapeutic areas covering Sleeping Sickness, Chagas disease, Cutaneous and Visceral Leishmaniasis, Filaria, & Mycetoma. MORE
Prof. Samba Sow Director General, Center for Vaccine Development; Professor, University of Maryland (Mali)
Professor Samba Sow is a former Minister of Health for Mali and currently Director General of the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD), Ministry of Health, Mali. In 2020, he was appointed by the Director General of WHO as one of six Special Envoys to WHO on COVID-19, to provide strategic advice and high-level political advocacy and engagement in different parts of the world. He also holds a faculty appointment as Professor at the University of Maryland, Division of Geographic Medicine. He has been Director of CVD-Mali since its inception in 2001. MORE
Dr. Annelies Wilder-Smith Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK)
Annelies Wilder-Smith is Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and visiting Professor at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Singapore. She serves as Consultant to the Initiative of Vaccine Research at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, and is Past President of the International Society of Travel Medicine (ISTM). MORE
Dr. Prashant Yadav Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, Affiliate Professor at INSEAD and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School (USA)
Prashant Yadav is a globally recognized scholar in the area of healthcare supply chains. He is Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, Affiliate Professor at INSEAD and Lecturer at Harvard Medical School. He is the author of many peer-reviewed scientific publications and his work has also been featured in prominent print and broadcast media. MORE