Ambassador John Nkengasong, PhD, will deliver the opening keynote at this year's
Annual Meeting, October 18-22, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Ambassador Nkengasong was selected to lead the new
U.S. Bureau of Global Heath Security and Diplomacy that was launched August 1. The Bureau's mission is to fortify global health and help prevent, detect, control and respond to infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, through international cooperation. Dr. Nkengasong serves as Ambassador-at-Large, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, reporting directly to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Prior to this role, he was the first Director of Africa CDC. He has received numerous prestigious awards and recognitions, and has authored or co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in professional journals.
"I could not be more thrilled to welcome Ambassador Nkengasong as our speaker for the opening plenary," said President Dan Bausch, MD, MPH&TM, FASTMH. "From guiding Africa through the COVID-19 pandemic as Director of Africa CDC, to his present role overseeing PEPFAR, he has an abundance of wisdom and perspectives to share. Simply put, there are few people in the world who possess the knowledge, experience, courage, compassion and leadership skills as John Nkengasong. Don’t miss this!”
PEPFAR is the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, preventing millions of HIV infections, saving lives and making progress toward ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Through Dr. Nkengasong's leadership, a framework for transforming Africa CDC into a full autonomous health agency of the Africa Union was established. He also led the COVID-19 response in Africa, coordinating with heads of state and governments across the continent, among other achievements, to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and helped secure 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines at the height of vaccine scarcity.