Regina Rabinovich Named Director Of Infectious Diseases Program For The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

SEATTLE -- The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced the appointment of Dr. Regina Rabinovich as director of the foundation’s Infectious Diseases program, to begin January, 2003.  Dr. Rabinovich currently serves as director of Malaria Vaccine Initiative, PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), where she leads a program to accelerate the development of promising malaria vaccine candidates and ensure their availability and accessibility for the developing world.

As program director, Dr. Rabinovich will lead and expand the foundation’s focus on the prevention and control of infectious disease.  To date, the Infectious Disease program has committed more than $500 million in grants to build coalitions between scientists, universities, nonprofit organizations and private industry focused on diseases that are too often ignored, such as malaria and lymphatic filariasis. 

The Infectious Diseases program is one of three priority areas (the others are HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis, and Reproductive and Child Health) within the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s overall Global Health Program.  The goal of the program is to increase global health equity by accelerating the development, deployment and sustainability of tools and technologies that will save lives and dramatically reduce the disease burden in the developing world. 

“All of us at the foundation are very pleased to have Dr. Rabinovich on board at this pivotal time in the fight against infectious diseases,” said Dr. Richard D. Klausner, former executive director of the foundation’s Global Health Program.  “Her experience in epidemiology and public health, as well as her expertise in vaccine development and advocacy, will provide the foundation with the leadership and insight we need to have a global impact on these very complex issues.”

“I am excited to join the global health team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and look forward to working with grantees and partners in the fight against infectious diseases,” said Dr. Rabinovich.  “The foundation’s commitment to promoting research and development that will accelerate prevention, elimination or eradication of diseases, through affordable technologies is one that I share completely.”

Dr. Rabinovich is a pediatrician and epidemiologist with more than 20 years of experience in public health management, pediatrics and vaccinology.  Prior to joining PATH, she spent 11 years at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)/National Institutes of Health (NIH) in positions ranging from Epidemiology Fellow (1988-91) to Chief of the Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Branch, Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (1998-99).
In her last years at NIAID, Dr. Rabinovich was responsible for the management of a collaborative network of U.S. vaccine evaluation units and a pilot lot production project, as well as the overall management of the branch, which included regulatory affairs for testing of new vaccines.  She has also served on a variety of vaccine advisory committees for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Vaccine Program Office, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Institute of Medicine, and the World Health Organization.
Dr. Rabinovich has received numerous academic and professional awards.  In 1993, she received an NIH Merit Award for contribution to the NIH vaccine research program. In 1995 she was given the NIH Director's Award for skillful and successful advocacy for vaccine research in development of comprehensive national and international program plans.
Dr. Rabinovich is trained in anthropology, public health, preventive medicine, epidemiology and vaccinology.  She earned her Doctor of Medicine at Southern Illinois University and her Master of Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Acting director of the foundation’s Infectious Diseases program, Dr. Sally Stansfield, will become associate director of Global Health Initiatives, a collection of cross cutting initiatives aimed at enabling technologies and people within the field of global health and providing synergy across program areas.