Global Health Leaders Forum

Tachi Yamada, M.D.
President, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program

Wednesday, February 21, 2007,
12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Wolfe St. building, Sommer Hall E2014, Baltimore, MD

Topic: Perspectives on Global Health
Momentum is rapidly growing to address the inequities in health between rich and poor countries.  Life-saving interventions have been proven to work on a large scale, policymakers are devoting significant new resources to global health, and advances in science and technology hold great promise for the development of new health tools.

Yet significant challenges remain. Far too little medical research focuses on diseases common in poor countries, and the world is not doing nearly enough to ensure access to health technologies that already exist. To overcome these challenges, the scientific community must increase its focus on global health, and both governments and the private sector must take a more active role in developing and delivering global health solutions.

Dr. Yamada will spend the second portion of his speech answering questions from audience members.

About Tachi Yamada, M.D.
Dr. Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada is President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program. In this capacity, he oversees grants totaling over $6 billion in programs directed at applying technologies to address major health challenges of the developing world including TB, HIV, malaria and other infectious diseases, malnutrition, and maternal and child health. He was formerly Chairman, Research and Development and a Member of the Board of Directors of GlaxoSmithKline. 

Dr. Yamada was born in Japan and completed his education in the United States. He graduated from Stanford University with a BA in history and obtained his M.D. from New York University School of Medicine. After completing his internal medicine training at the Medical College of Virginia, he became an investigator in the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, trained in gastroenterology at the UCLA School of Medicine, and assumed his first faculty position there.  He later moved to the University of Michigan where he ultimately became Chairman, Department of Internal Medicine and Physician-in-Chief of the University of Michigan Medical Center before joining GlaxoSmithKline.

A scientist and scholar in gastroenterology, Dr. Yamada is the author of more than 150 original manuscripts on the subject and is the editor of The Textbook of Gastroenterology. The studies undertaken by Dr. Yamada and his collaborators led to basic discoveries in the post-translational processing and biological activation of peptide hormones, the structure and function of receptors for hormones regulating gastric acid secretion, and the regulation of genes involved in the acid secretory process. 

In recognition of his contributions to medicine he has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (US) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK). He has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Distinguished Achievement Award in Gastrointestinal Physiology from the American Physiological Society, the Friedenwald Medal from the American Gastroenterological Association, the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award from the University of Michigan and the Distinguished Medical Scientist Award from the Medical College of Virginia. Dr. Yamada is a Fellow of the Imperial College of Medicine, a Master of the American College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, a Past-President of the Association of American Physicians and a Past-President of the American Gastroenterological Association. He has also been a Member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the National Board of Medical Examiners (US).  

Sponsored by: Center for Global Health and the Department of International Health

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