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| Biography |
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Adel A.F. Mahmoud, M.D., Ph.D., is completing eight year tenure as President, Merck Vaccines. Formerly, he served Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland as Professor and Chairman of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief.
Dr. Mahmoud’s academic pursuits focused on investigations of the biology and function of eosinophils particularly in host resistance to helminthic infections. In recent years, he turned his attention to Emerging Infections and the need to expand vaccination in the developing world. At Merck, Dr. Mahmoud led the effort to develop four new vaccines: combination of Measles, Mumps, Rubella and Varicella; Rota Virus; Shingles and Human Papillomavirus.
Born in Cairo, Egypt in 1941, Dr. Mahmoud received his M.D. degree from the University of Cairo in 1963. He completed training at the teaching hospitals of the University of Cairo and obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of London, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1971.
Dr. Mahmoud was elected to membership of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1978, the Association of American Physicians in 1980 and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. He received the
Bailey K. Ashford Award of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the Squibb Award of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
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| Abstract |
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Priorities for Global Health Research and Product Development |
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Global health research is the translation of global will for better life for all, into generating new knowledge and its applications to develop usable products. The effort must be cognizant of the different global settings. Currently, global health research is focusing on 1) unfinished agenda of infectious diseases, 2) the coming epidemic of chronic diseases and aging population, 3) the unnecessary epidemic: injuries, casualties of war and humanitarian emergencies and 4) crisis in health systems. But priority setting for research on problems of the developing world is now crucial. During the next decade the focus should be: maternal and child health, microbial threats, non-communicable diseases and injury and health policy. Convergence of new scientific pursuits such as synthetic, system and structural biology and integrative genomics with immunology, genetics and molecular biology offer a unique opportunity for discovery and innovation. Information technology, increase in research capacity in the developing world, an expanded base of scientific excellence and freedom of scientific inquiry are necessary prerequisites. The other arm of the global effort must address product development for pharmaceuticals, vaccines and diagnostics. The economics of product development in the pharmaceutical sector shows that a new chemical entity costs approximately $800 million. Recently, the movement towards product development in public-private partnerships is paving the way to explore uncharted territory. Low cost products for developing countries must not mean different standards. Enabling conditions such as regulatory systems, liability, and intellectual property have to be similarly streamlined to accelerate the pace of development. Global health research and its applications are fundamental to social development and progress; the need is urgent. |
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