Executive Committee
WGHA's executive committee is comprised of executive member leadership. The executive committee is chaired by Chris Elias, MD, PhD, president of PATH.
Christopher J. Elias, MD, MPH
President and Chief Executive Officer, PATH
Dr. Elias is president and chief executive officer of PATH, an international, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization based in Seattle, Washington. As president, Dr. Elias is responsible for PATH’s strategic, programmatic, financial, and management operations. PATH currently works in more than 70 countries in the areas of health technologies, maternal and child health, reproductive health, vaccines and immunization, and emerging and epidemic diseases. Dr. Elias received his MD from Creighton University (1983), completed post-graduate training in internal medicine at the University of California San Francisco (1986), and received an MPH from the University of Washington (1990), where he was a fellow in the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program.
Alan Aderem, PhD
Co–founder and Director, Institute for Systems Biology
Alan Aderem has studied the interface between the innate and adaptive immune system for more than twenty five years. He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at The Rockefeller University, and then as head of the laboratory of Signal Transduction in 1991. In 1996, he accepted a Professor of Immunology and Medicine position at the University of Washington in Seattle. In 2000, Dr. Aderem co-founded the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB) with Drs. Leroy Hood and Ruedi Aebersold. The ISB is an interdisciplinary institute that focuses on global analysis of complex systems including the immune system. Internationally, he was appointed Chair of the Parliamentary Review Commission of the Medical Research Council of South Africa in 2001 and 1996, and is currently a science advisor to the South African government.
David Fleming, MD
Director, Public Health—Seattle & King County
Prior to assuming this role, Dr. Fleming directed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Strategies Program. Dr. Fleming has also served as the Deputy Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While at CDC, Dr. Fleming led efforts to develop the agency's scientific and programmatic capabilities, and served as the principal source of scientific and programmatic expertise in CDC's Office of the Director. He provided oversight of CDC's global health portfolio through its Office of Global Health, and the Director's offices of Minority Health, Women's Health, and Associate Director for Science. He has served on a number of Institute of Medicine and federal advisory committees, the Boards of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, as President of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and as the State Epidemiologist of Oregon. Dr. Fleming received his medical degree from the State University of New York Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He serves on the faculty of the departments of public health at both the University of Washington and Oregon Health Sciences University.
Linda Gainer
Vice President, External Affairs, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Linda Gainer is the vice president of external relations and communications at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is responsible for governmental affairs, media and community relations, marketing and publications and the Web. She also serves as the director of government affairs for the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA). She directs media and community outreach for the SCCA. Prior to joining the staff of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, she served on its board of directors for eight years. She came to the Center from the telecommunications industry with over 25 years of public relations experience. Her last position was national field media relations director for GTE (now Verizon). Gainer is active in community organizations and has served on such boards as Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Association of Washington Business and the Seattle University Albers Business School Advisory Board. She was a founding member of Mothers Against Violence in America. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Seattle.
John Gardner, PhD
Vice President, Economic Development and Global Engagement
Washington State University
Washington State University President Elson Floyd created the office of Economic Development and Extension in July of 2007, appointing John Gardner as Vice President to lead this new effort. Having worked in both universities and business, Dr. Gardner leads the effort which links private, public, and philanthropic partners to better leverage all of WSU’s assets for economic growth and vitality of the state. Gardner is a native of the Kansas City area where he earned degrees in agriculture and agronomy at Kansas State University, and a PhD at the University of Nebraska in plant physiology. Prior to WSU, Gardner spent six years at the University of Missouri as the Associate Dean/Director for Research and Outreach in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources after which he became the Vice President for Research and Economic Development, a position similar to that he currently holds at WSU.
King Holmes, MD, PhD
William H. Foege Chair, Department of Global Health, University of Washington
Dr. King Holmes became the first William H. Foege Chair of Global Health at the University of Washington effective Nov. 1, 2006. Dr. Holmes also heads the Infectious Diseases Section at Harborview Medical Center and founded and directs the UW Center for AIDS and STD, a WHO Collaborating Center for AIDS & STD. The Center for AIDS and STD includes two NIH research centers -- the UW/FHCRC Center for AIDS Research, established in 1988, and the UW STI Cooperative Research Center, established in 1991; and several NIH-funded research training programs; Dr. Holmes is also principal investigator for the International Training & Education Center on HIV (I-TECH), a collaboration between UW and University of California San Francisco – one of the largest HIV/AIDS training programs in the world. Dr. Holmes chairs the Scientific Advisory Board for the Accordia Foundation for Global Health and for the Infectious Diseases Institute at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, and the STI Working Group for the NIH HIV Prevention Trials Network. He has authored over 500 peer-reviewed publications and edited 30 books, monographs, and journal supplements.
Scott Jackson, MBA
Vice President, External Relations, PATH
Scott Jackson is PATH’s vice president of External Relations and leads PATH’s efforts to increase institutional resources, develop and strengthen relationships with partners and donors, and maximize the visibility of PATH’s work. Mr. Jackson draws on his management, strategic communications, and fundraising experience gained from a number of positions held for complex organizations in the public and private sectors: chief of staff, strategist, fundraiser, marketer, public relations/public affairs specialist, and manager. He joined PATH from World Vision, where he was senior vice president of External Relations, Relational Ministries, and US Programs and provided oversight for several successful fundraising and advocacy campaigns. At World Vision, he served on the executive committee for ONE, the campaign to make poverty history—a global health and poverty advocacy and awareness campaign. Mr. Jackson serves on a number of boards and committees and holds an MBA from the University of Edinburgh. He is a Rotary scholar and has significant work experience in the United States and abroad.
Curt Malloy, JD, MPH
Vice President, Infectious Disease Research Institute
Curt Malloy is currently Sr. Vice President, Operations and General Counsel of IDRI (Infectious Disease Research Institute). He holds a bachelors degree in Computer Science and Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University, and a Juris Doctor, with an emphasis in intellectual property, from Seattle University. Curt's professional interests include the impact of both infectious diseases and intellectual property law on the developing world. He is fluent in Spanish, having worked nearly two years as a health promoter in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala and as a consultant in occupational epidemiology in Puerto Rico. Curt is an adjunct professor at Seattle University, where he teaches courses in epidemiology and global health.
Julie Overbaugh, PhD
Associate Program Head, Human Biology Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Julie Overbaugh, PhD is a Member and Associate Program Head at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. Her work focuses on various aspects of HIV-1 transmission and pathogenesis, and is noted for its emphasis on translational research. She has worked closely with investigators in Kenya for the past ~15 years, including on a number of studies of mother-to-child and heterosexual transmission of HIV-1. Her interests include supporting research training and development of African laboratory-based scientists, developing infrastructure for research in countries most affected by HIV and transfer of relevant technologies. She has served as the Chair of the NIH grant review panel on the molecular biology of HIV-1, as Editor for Journal of Virology, as organizer of several international meetings, and as a member of the Office of AIDS Research advisory committee.
Guy Palmer, DVM, PhD
Director, School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University
Dr. Guy Palmer is Regents Professor of Pathology and Infectious Diseases and Director of the Washington State University School for Global Animal Health. Dr. Palmer’s research focus is on improving control of animal diseases with direct impact on human health and well-being. For his research at the interface of animal disease and human public health, Dr. Palmer was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and is a current member of the Global Health Group. Dr. Palmer serves as a member of the founding Board of Directors of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and of the Executive Committee of the Washington Vaccine Alliance. He is the Chair of the NIH study section on host interaction with bacterial infections and presently serves as an adviser to the Gates Foundation on vaccine development to prevent African sleeping sickness, the Wellcome Trust, and to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Within Washington State University he chairs the Graduate program in Microbiology and Pathology, and directs the Infectious Diseases and Microbial Immunology Post-doctoral Training Program.
Michael Podlin, MBA
Vice President, Institutional Advancement, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute
Michael Podlin joined Seattle BioMed in January 2009 as Vice President of Institutional Advancement. He heads all SBRI external relations, including fundraising, communications, Seattle BioMed's BioQuest education program and business development activities. Prior to joining Seattle BioMed, he served as Assistant Dean for Advancement for the University of Washington's College of Arts and Sciences, where he was responsible for development, communications and alumni relations for the university's largest college. He also served as Executive Director of Chicago's Music of the Baroque. Michael received a B.A. in psychology from Lewis University and an M.B.A. from the University of San Francisco.
Karin D. Rodland, PhD
Laboratory Fellow, Fundamental and Computational Sciences Directorate, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Dr. Karin Rodland joined the Biological Sciences Division at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in October 2001, after serving seventeen years on the faculty of Oregon Health Sciences University. As Science Lead for NIH Programs at PNNL, she has promoted the application of PNNL's traditional strengths in mass spectrometry, proteomics, and systems biology to important problems in biomedical research. She has fostered the development of PNNL staff in their scientific careers, and played a key role in organizing and coordinating interdisciplinary teams both within PNNL and with colleagues at external academic medical centers and research institutes for the purpose of building significant and self-sustaining programs in biomedical research. Dr. Rodland is the author or co-author of over 56 scientific publications, including invited reviews on proteomics and cancer biomarkers. She received an A. B. in Biology from Hood College summa cum laude, and Ph.D. in Biology from Syracuse University.
Craig Rubens, MD, PhD
Founder and Executive Director, Global Alliance for the Prevention of Prematurity and Stillbirth—an initiative of Seattle Children's
Craig Rubens is co-founder and Executive Director of the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS), a new interdisciplinary initiative of Seattle Children's established to unravel the mysteries surrounding preterm birth and stillbirth. Rubens is also a Professor of Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, an Adjunct Professor of Microbiology and a Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist. He is a graduate of the University of Washington, School of Medicine and received a PhD from the Department of Basic and Clinical Immunology and Microbiology, Medical University of South Carolina.
Kenneth D. Stuart, PhD
Founder and President, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute
Dr. Stuart is the Founder, President and Director of Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (Seattle BioMed), a non-profit organization focused on discovering new solutions for malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, as well as lesser known but equally deadly diseases such as African sleeping sickness, Chagas disease and leishmaniasis. He is also Professor of Global Health and Microbiology at the University of Washington. While Dr. Stuart leads Seattle BioMed, which has more than 250 people at its headquarters in Seattle and field sites in Tanzania, he also has an active research program. An expert on the molecular and cell biology of the pathogens that cause African sleeping sickness, leishmaniasis and Chagas disease, Dr. Stuart is recognized for his groundbreaking studies of RNA editing, a novel process unique to these pathogens that provides targets for drug development. He led the formation of an international genome consortium that sequenced and compared genomes of the parasites that cause the three related diseases, which laid the foundation for rapid scientific advances. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is on the board of the Washington Biomedical and Biotechnology Association.
Lisa Verhovek, MA
Community Relations Manager, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Lisa Verhovek joined the Gates Foundation in 2008 as its Community Relations Manager. Prior to this, she served as Communications Director at Philanthropy Northwest, a Seattle-based nonprofit dedicated to providing support, resources and networking for philanthropic organizations across six states. Earlier in her career, Lisa worked at Stanford University as the coordinator of STARTS (Student Arts at Stanford), and later at the Japan Society in New York City following three years of teaching and editing English in Japan and China. Lisa has a Master’s degree in anthropology from State University of New York at Albany, and a B.S. in Biology from California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo.
Judith N. Wasserheit, MD, MPH
Vice Chair, Department of Global Health, University of Washington
Judith N. Wasserheit MD, MPH is currently Professor of Medicine and Global Health and Vice Chair of the Department of Global Health at the University of Washington in the Schools of Medicine and Public Health & Community Medicine. She is also an Affiliate Investigator the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She was formerly the Director of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, a global clinical trials platform linking 28 sites on four continents in evaluating preventive HIV vaccines. She has had extensive experience in sexually transmitted disease (STD) research, policy development and program implementation both in the United States and in developing countries. Her previous research has included one of the first laparoscopic studies of pelvic inflammatory disease etiology conducted in the US, the first population-based study of the prevalence and etiologic spectrum of STDs among rural women in the Indian Subcontinent, and research on the interrelationships between STDs and contraceptive practices in other parts of the developing world, including Indonesia, and Egypt. She has also worked in Columbia, Thailand and Zambia. Her development of the concept of epidemiological synergy between HIV infection and other STDs has had a major influence on HIV prevention policy and programs around the world.
Tadataka Yamada, MD
President, Global Health Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Dr. Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada, president of the foundation’s Global Health Program, leads the foundation’s efforts to help develop and deliver low-cost, life-saving health tools for the developing world. He oversees Global Health’s grantmaking, which focuses on four major activities: discovery, development, delivery, and advocacy.Before joining the foundation, Yamada served as chairman of research and development and was a member of the board of directors at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to that, he was chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and physician-in-chief at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Yamada is a past president of the American Gastroenterological Association and the Association of American Physicians, a master of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science in the United States and the Academy of Medical Sciences in the United Kingdom.
Lisa Cohen, MA
Executive Director, Washington Global Health Alliance
Lisa Cohen is the Director of the Washington Global Health Alliance, a coalition of the state’s leading global health organizations. Ms. Cohen’s career includes 25 years in journalism as a newsroom manager for Seattle television affiliates KOMO, KING, KIRO and KCPQ, and as a documentary and special projects producer for CBS “60 Minutes” and “The Early Show”. She served as interim Executive Director for Seattle CityClub and as Communication Advisor for Governor Christine Gregoire during the 2004 election. She is an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Washington, where she earned degrees in Broadcast Journalism and International Communications. She serves on the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association Board, the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee for the Seattle Central Community Colleges and advisory boards for
