David L. Heymann

Last updated
David L. Heymann
Born1946 (age 77–78)
Pennsylvania, USA
NationalityAmerican
Education Pennsylvania State University, Wake Forest University
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician
FieldEpidemiologist
InstitutionsUK Public Health England, Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House,
World Health Organization,
US CDC
Sub-specialtiesPublic Health, Epidemiology
AwardsCommander of the Order of the British Empire,
Commendador Encomienda de Sanidad Orden Civil de Sanidad,
American Public Health Association Award for Excellence United States Institute of Medicine,
United Kingdom Academy of Medical Sciences,
Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International,
Welling Professorship at the George Washington University School of Public Health,
Donald Mackay medal by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
The 13th Annual Heinz Award for the Human Condition

David L. Heymann (born 1946) is an American infectious disease epidemiologist and public health expert, based in London.

Contents

Early life and education

Heymann was born in Pennsylvania, USA. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Pennsylvania State University and later obtained an MD from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He also received a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Heymann did two years of practical epidemiology training with the Epidemic Intelligence Service, during which time Heymann was part of the international team that investigated the first outbreak of Ebola in Zaire (with Peter Piot, Karl Johnson, Joel Breman, Joe McCormick amongst others) and the first outbreak of Legionnaire's disease, in Philadelphia.

Career

Heymann was appointed chairman of the board of the UK Health Protection Agency in April 2009. He remained chairman of the board when HPA was merged into Public Health England in 2013. At the same time, he started and became head and senior fellow of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, London (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and in 2010 joined the faculty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as professor of infectious disease epidemiology. [1]

Heymann was the World Health Organization's assistant director-general for health, security, and environment, and the representative of the director-general for polio eradication. Previously, from 1998–2003, he was executive director of the WHO Communicable Diseases Cluster and from October 1995 to July 1998 he was director of the WHO Programme on Emerging and other Communicable Diseases. Prior to this, he was the chief of research activities in the WHO Global Programme on AIDS.

Heymann was also chairman of the Strategic Advisory Group of Hilleman Laboratories.

Heymann is visiting professor in the department of medicine at the National University of Singapore, and an associate provost (health affairs).

Before joining WHO, Heymann worked for 13 years as a medical epidemiologist in sub-Saharan Africa on assignment from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He also worked in India for two years as a medical epidemiologist in the WHO Smallpox Eradication Programme, where smallpox was eradicated in 1978. Heymann also took an active role in the first Ebola outbreak in 1976, and led the response team during the 1995 Kikwit outbreak. In 2003, Heymann was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic, working with his team to mediate international effort to halt the pandemic. [2] [3]

For his work in public health, Heymann is regarded as one of the "disease cowboys". [4]

Heymann also served as editor of the 18th through 20th editions of the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual, a publication of the American Public Health Association.

On 5 August 2020, Heymann was deployed as part of a WHO "surge team" in South Africa to help strengthen the national and provincial responses to COVID-19. [5]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine</span> UK public research university

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a member institution of the University of London that specialises in public health and tropical medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Piot</span> Belgian microbiologist (born 1949)

Sir Peter Karel, Baron Piot, is a Belgian-British microbiologist known for his research into Ebola and AIDS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Henderson</span> American physician

Donald Ainslie Henderson was an American medical doctor, educator, and epidemiologist who directed a 10-year international effort (1967–1977) that eradicated smallpox throughout the world and launched international childhood vaccination programs. From 1977 to 1990, he was Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Later, he played a leading role in instigating national programs for public health preparedness and response following biological attacks and national disasters. At the time of his death, he was Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh, as well as Distinguished Scholar at the UPMC Center for Health Security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Foege</span> American physician and epidemiologist

William Herbert Foege is an American physician and epidemiologist who is credited with "devising the global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s". From May 1977 to 1983, Foege served as the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formed in 1946, is the leading national public health institute of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Its main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and internationally.

William Harding le Riche was a South African–born Canadian epidemiologist. He was Professor of Epidemiology (emeritus) at the University of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. Srinath Reddy</span>

K. Srinath Reddy is an Indian physician and the Former President of the Public Health Foundation of India and formerly headed the Department of Cardiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John S. Marr</span>

John S. Marr is an American physician, epidemiologist, and author. His professional life has concerned outbreaks of infectious disease and thus his subsequent writing career has focused on that topic, particularly historical epidemics.

Anne Walsh Rimoin is an American infectious disease epidemiologist whose research focuses on emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), particularly those that are crossing species from animal to human populations. She is a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and Infectious Disease Division of the Geffen School of Medicine and is the Director of the Center for Global and Immigrant Health. She is an internationally recognized expert on the epidemiology of Ebola, human monkeypox, and disease emergence in Central Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Jenner Medal</span>

The Edward Jenner Medal is awarded occasionally by the Royal Society of Medicine to individuals who have undertaken distinguished work in epidemiological research.

Walter Werner Holland was an epidemiologist and public health physician.

Pedro L. Alonso, is a physician, epidemiologist, and researcher in diseases that affect vulnerable populations. Based on a multidisciplinary approach, his work focuses mainly on malaria, although he has also studied other infectious diseases. He served as the Director of the Global Malaria Programme at the World Health Organization between 2014 and 2022, and is currently Professor of Global Health at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science-Hospital Clinic, at the University of Barcelona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chikwe Ihekweazu</span> Nigerian epidemiologist

Chikwe Ihekweazu is a Nigerian epidemiologist, public health physician and the World Health Organization's Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence and Surveillance Systems.

Robert Steffen is an Emeritus Professor at the Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Switzerland and an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Public in Houston. He is an editor of the Journal of Travel Medicine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Ryan (doctor)</span> Irish doctor and Chief Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Programme

Michael Joseph Ryan is an Irish epidemiologist and former trauma surgeon, specialising in infectious disease and public health. He is executive director of the World Health Organization's Health Emergencies Programme, leading the team responsible for the international containment and treatment of COVID-19. Ryan has held leadership positions and has worked on various outbreak response teams in the field to eradicate the spread of diseases including bacillary dysentery, cholera, Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, Marburg virus disease, measles, meningitis, relapsing fever, Rift Valley fever, SARS, and Shigellosis.

Maria DeJoseph Van Kerkhove is an American infectious disease epidemiologist. With a background in high-threat pathogens, Van Kerkhove specializes in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases and is based in the Health Emergencies Program at the World Health Organization (WHO). She is the technical lead of COVID-19 response and the head of emerging diseases and zoonosis unit at WHO.

Sir William John Edmunds is a British epidemiologist, and a professor in the Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

<i>Weekly Epidemiological Record</i> Academic journal

The Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) is a publication of the World Health Organization (WHO) that as of 2020 is in its 95th volume. It is published in English and French with the alternative title of the Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire. It aims to rapidly disseminate epidemiological information about outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations and about communicable diseases of public health importance. This includes emerging or re-emerging diseases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Michael Lane</span> American epidemiologist (1936–2020)

John Michael Lane was an American epidemiologist who was a director of the Epidemic Intelligence Service's Global Smallpox Eradication program from 1973 to 1981, and who played a leading role in the eradication of smallpox in 1977.

Joel Breman was an American epidemiologist. He led efforts to control Ebola, guinea worm, malaria, measles, onchocerciasis, polio, smallpox, and other infectious diseases.

References

  1. ↑ Chatham, House. "Professor David L Heymann, CBE Head and Senior Fellow, Centre on Global Health Security". Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2012-11-02.
  2. ↑ Heymann, David L. (2013-03-14). "Opinion | How SARS Was Contained". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  3. ↑ "Why we might not get a coronavirus vaccine". the Guardian. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-22.
  4. ↑ Goldsmith, Marsha F. (25 February 1998). "JAMA Network | JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association | Health Woes Grow in Shrinking World". JAMA. 279 (8). Jama.ama-assn.org: 569–571. doi:10.1001/jama.279.8.569. PMID   9486738 . Retrieved 2012-09-08.
  5. ↑ "South Africa: UN health agency sends experts to help battle against COVID-19". UN News. 2020-08-05. Retrieved 2020-12-13.
  6. ↑ "David Heymann". www.heinzawards.org. The Heinz Awards. Retrieved 2024-02-08.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.