Michael Merson, M.D.

Michael Merson, M.D., is the Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine, the former Dean of Public Health in the Yale School of Medicine, and Director of Yale University’s Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS. He is Principal Investigator of an NIH-supported AIDS International Training and Research Program (AITRP) in St. Petersburg, Russia and an International Clinical, Operational and Health Services Research and Training Award (ICOHRTA) Program in Pretoria, South Africa, and is Director of the Monitoring and Evaluation Unit of the Secure the Future initiative in Southern and Western Africa supported by Bristol-Myers Squibb. In addition, he is leading an evaluation of the rollout of antiretroviral therapy in Tamil Nadu, India and is the Co-investigator on a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) grant to implement structural interventions for HIV prevention among high risk populations in Southern and North-east India. Previously he worked for 17 years with the World Health Organization (WHO) serving first as Director of the Diarrheal Diseases Control and Acute Respiratory Control Programs and subsequently as Executive Director of the WHO Global Program on AIDS. Before joining WHO, he was engaged in research on the etiology and epidemiology of diarrheal diseases in the United States and abroad. More recently he has written on global AIDS policy issues, which is his current major area of interest. He has authored more than 175 articles and is the senior editor of International Public Health, the first comprehensive textbook prepared on the subject. He has served on various NIH review panels and advisory committees, is a member of the UNAIDS Reference Group on HIV Prevention and the BMGF HIV Prevention Working Group, and has served as a consultant to the World Bank for its HIV/AIDS projects in various countries. He has received two honorary degrees, the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal and the Arthur S. Flemming Award for distinguished government service.   Dr. Merson is a member of the Institute of Medicine and currently of its Board on Global Health.