Professor John Reeder – The Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases: Research for health impact

Professor John Reeder Director of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization

About your speaker

Professor John Reeder has been Director of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases,  at the World Health Organization in Geneva, for the last 5 years. He was previously Co-Director of the Centre for Population Health and Head of the Office of International Health Research at the Burnet Institute, Melbourne and an NH&MRC Principal Research Fellow. Prior to this he was Director of the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research for several years, where he worked on translating scientific findings into policy for improved health across research programmes in mosquito-borne diseases, respiratory disease, sexual health, disease surveillance, infectious diseases and therapies, and operational/implementation research.

John began his career in medical microbiology laboratories in the United Kingdom and then moved to health training as a development volunteer in the Highlands of PNG, later working with the renowned malaria research team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne. He maintains research interests in malaria and other agents of global health significance, such as tuberculosis, NTDs and HIV.  He has published over 160 scientific papers that span basic laboratory research to large community- based field studies. John is an adjunct professor of Monash University, Melbourne.

Abstract

TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, is a global programme of scientific collaboration that helps facilitate, support and influence efforts to combat diseases of poverty. It is hosted at the World Health Organization (WHO), and is sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and WHO.

For over forty years now TDR has pursued its vision of bringing the power of research and innovation to improve the health and well-being of those burdened by infectious diseases of poverty. It aims to do this through fostering an effective global research effort on infectious diseases of poverty and promote the translation of innovation to health impact in disease endemic countries. The development of research capacity in disease affected countries is at the very core of this effort. This talk will discuss the evolution of  the TDR strategy  and the activities being undertaken to ensure it makes its best possible impact on diseases of poverty.