SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today named Chris Wilson as Director of Discovery in the Global Health Program. He reports directly to Dr. Tachi Yamada, President of the foundation’s Global Health Program. The appointment is effective immediately. Wilson assumed the role of Interim Director of Discovery in March after holding other positions at the foundation.
“Chris’ intelligence and creative instincts, coupled with his ability to communicate with and lead people, is just the combination needed to head Global Health Discovery,” said Tachi Yamada. “Together, we will be one step closer toward achieving our mission of developing technology-based solutions that will affect the lives of millions.”
Wilson joined the foundation in August 2009 as Deputy Director, Human Biology, and soon took on additional responsibilities to lead Vaccine Discovery. He is a pediatrician and immunologist, and received his training at University of California, Los Angeles, Harvard, and Stanford. Wilson joined the faculty at the University of Washington in 1979 in the Infectious Diseases Division of the Department of Pediatrics and later served as head of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Immunology and Rheumatology. In 1989, he became one of the founding faculty members in the new Department of Immunology, and served as Chairman of the Department of Immunology and head of the graduate program in immunology from 1999 to 2009. Wilson has also served on a number of national advisory panels, including the Institute of Medicine Vaccine Safety Review Committee from 2001 to 2004 and the National Advisory Council on Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health.