August 8, 2017

Disease knows no borders. CDC’s global activities protect Americans from major health threats such as Ebola, Zika, and pandemic influenza and adverse economic impact. CDC detects and controls outbreaks at their source, saving lives and reducing healthcare costs. As importantly, CDC helps other countries build capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to health threats through its work. The knowledge and lessons learned from CDC’s work abroad are critical to our public health efforts at home, and to protecting Americans.

CDC works in more than 60 countries, working with ministries of health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and many other partners on the front lines where outbreaks may occur. It addresses global health crises that can extend beyond the health sector to contribute to creating more stable societies, including the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.

Join Dr. Hamid Jafari, CDC Center for Global Health Principal Deputy Director, as he walks us through the structure and activities of CDC’s global health center in the United States and abroad. Dr. Jafari’s presentation will be followed by a moderated audience Q&A session.

Speaker Biography:
Hamid Jafari, MD

Principal Deputy Director, Center for Global Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Dr. Jafari is currently serving as the Principal Deputy Director, Center for Global Health, at the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

Until February, 2016, Dr. Jafari was the Director of Global Polio Eradication at World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva and the overall leader of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. Before this appointment, Dr. Jafari served as the Project Manager of World Health Organization’s National Polio Surveillance Project in India (2007-2012). As Project Manager of NPSP, he was the main technical advisor to the Government of India in the implementation of the nation’s large scale polio eradication, measles control and routine immunization activities and directed WHO’s extensive network of more than 2000 field staff.

Previously, Dr. Jafari has served as Director of the Global Immunization Division at the CDC, Atlanta, USA. He has also served as the Medical Officer for Polio Eradication in the Regional Office of WHO for Eastern Mediterranean in Egypt on assignment from CDC.

Dr. Jafari is a graduate of CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program, Class of 1992. He obtained his MBBS degree from Sind Medical College, Karachi University. He completed his residency training in Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and his Pediatric Infectious Disease fellowship training at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas. Dr. Jafari completed a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He has been certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in the sub-specialty of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. Dr. Jafari has published more than 70 scientific papers and book chapters on pathogenesis of infectious diseases, polio eradication and other vaccine-preventable diseases.

Moderator:
Hon. Keith Martin, MD, PC

Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health

Dr. Martin is a physician who, since Sept. 2012, has served as the founding Executive Director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) based in Washington, DC.

Between 1993-2011, Dr. Martin served as a Member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons representing a riding on Vancouver Island. During that time he held shadow ministerial portfolios in foreign affairs, international development, and health. He also served as Canada’s Parliamentary Secretary for Defense. In 2004, he was appointed to the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. His main areas of focus are in global health, foreign policy, security, international development, conservation and the environment.

Dr. Martin has been on numerous diplomatic missions to areas in crisis. He served as a physician in South Africa on the Mozambique border during that country’s civil war. He has travelled widely in Africa, visiting the continent 27 times. Dr. Martin is the author of more than 160 published editorial pieces, has appeared frequently as a political and social commentator on television and radio and has spoken at conferences around the world. He is a board member of the Global Health Council, Jane Goodall Institute and Annals of Global Health. He is an advisor for the Int’l Cancer Expert Corps, Global Sepsis Alliance and McGill University’s Global Health Program and a member of the Lancet-ISMMS Commission on Pollution and Health.