Global Health: Taking Stock of "Neglected Diseases"

April 13, 2010

For Dr. Regina Rabinovich, the battle against malaria is personal.  Having contracted malaria on a research trip to Gambia, she realized the devastating impact of the disease on the economically downtrodden populations of Africa.

As director of the Global Health Program's Infectious Diseases Development team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rabinovich oversees the development and implementation of strategies for the prevention, treatment, and control of diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, and pneumonia, which have particular relevance to global health.  Given the high cost of research and development and little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to make vaccines for poor countries, Rabinovich has embarked on a personal crusade to create awareness.

Before joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she served in various positions at the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAID), including chief of the clinical and regulatory affairs branch of the division of microbiology and infectious diseases.  At NAID, Rabinovich participated in the Children's Vaccine initiative - a global effort to prevent infectious diseases in children in the developing world.  She also served as liaison to the National Vaccine Program Office, focusing on vaccine safety and vaccine research.

She serves on the boards of several organizations focused on global health and infectious diseases, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; the NAID Council; Medicines for Malaria Venture; PATH Vaccine Solutions; and the Institute of OneWorld Health.

Rabinovich completed a fellowship in epidemiology at the National Institutes of Health in 1991 and received her medical degree from Southern Illinois University.  She earned her master's degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and her bachelor's degree at the University of Iowa.