Dr. John Nkengasong has been confirmed, on May 5, by the U.S. Senate to be the next U.S. Ambassador-at-Large, Coordinator of the United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally. A dual US-Cameroonian citizen , he was the Director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC Africa).
As the new U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator, Dr Nkengasong will lead the United States’ President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Global Health Diplomacy leads, manages, and oversees the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government has invested nearly $100 billion in the global HIV/AIDS response, the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease in history, saving 21 million lives, preventing millions of HIV infections, and accelerating progress toward controlling the global HIV/AIDS epidemic in more than 50 countries.
A seasoned scientist
Dr John Nkengasong is the Director of the African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior to his current position, he was Acting Senior Deputy Director of the Center for Global Health, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), and Head of the International Laboratory Branch, Division of Global HIV and TB, US CDC. He holds a PhD in medical sciences (virology) from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium; a Master’s degree in tropical biomedical sciences from the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium; and a Master’s degree in medical and pharmaceutical sciences from the Medical School of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Nkengasong earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Yaounde.
Between 1993 and 1995, he was Head of Virology and the WHO Collaborating Centre on HIV Diagnostics, Department of Microbiology, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium. He joined the US CDC in 1995 as Head of the Virology Laboratory, US CDC Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Dr. John Nkengasong subsequently returned to the States and rose to the role of acting deputy principal director for the CDC’s Center for Global Health in Atlanta, Georgia – the state where he also holds US citizenship.
In early 2017, he was appointed director of the newly-created African CDC. In 2014, when Ebola hit West Africa, the heads of state met again and asked the African Union commission to accelerate the establishment of the Africa CDC,” Nkengasong recalled in a 2017 interview, published by the Fogarty International Center. “For all the human and economic destruction wrought by Ebola, it ended up being the catalyst that pushed African leaders to rapidly advance the concept that they nurtured in 2013 to bolster the continent’s public health response, and Africa’s continent-wide public health agency was launched in January 2017.”
He has received numerous awards for his work, including: the US Secretary of Health and Human Services Award for Excellence in Public Health Protection Research, the Sheppard Award, the US Director’s Recognitions Award and the William Watson Medal of Excellence, the highest recognition given by the CDC, for his outstanding contributions and leadership in advancing global laboratory services and programs in support of the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. He is also a recipient of the Knight of Honour Medal from the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and was knighted on 19 June 2017 with the National Order of the Lion, awarded by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, for his significant contributions to public health.
Dr John Nkemasong serves on several international advisory committees, including the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Initiative – CEPI and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). He has authored over 200 peer-reviewed articles in international journals and has published several book chapters.
