Larry Brilliant, MD, MPH

Google.org

Dr. Larry Brilliant is an M.D. and M.P.H. and a former professor of epidemiology. On February 22, 2006, he was appointed Executive Director of Google.org, the philanthropic arm of Google. In the past, he helped run the WHO smallpox eradication program in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh; was a staff member of the WHO "Global Commission to Certify Smallpox Eradicated" in Burma, India, Nepal, and Iran; and served as the last UN inspector to visit Iran to search for hidden smallpox. The author of two books and dozens of articles on the epidemiology of smallpox, blindness, and environmental diseases, he has worked at city, county, state, federal, and international levels. Larry is also the founder of the Seva Foundation, which has performed over 2 million free sight-restoring eye operations in India and Nepal. As a technologist, he was a founder of The WELL, CEO of two public technology corporations (SoftNet Systems Inc. and Network Technologies), and most recently founded the WiFi company, Cometa. Larry is also a recipient of the 2006 TED Prize, which grants him one wish to change the world. That prize led to the birth of INSTEDD.

Peter F. Carpenter

Mr. Carpenter is a strategist, synthesizer, businessman, nonprofit leader, and philanthropist. Currently serving as a Director of Annual Reviews, of the Menlo Park Fire Protection District and of the Village Enterprise Fund, Mr. Carpenter has pursued a broad management and academic career in both the public and private sectors. Highlights include past service as President of ALZA Development Corporation, adjunct professor in Epidemiology and Biostatisics at McGill University, Chair of the American Foundation for AIDS Research (AMFAR), Executive Director of the Stanford University Medical Center, VP of E.G. Fubini Consultants, ARPA Program Manager, USMC 5th Force Reconnaissance Company (USAF Liaison), and Smokejumper for the US Forest Service, as well as many boards, ethics councils and advisory committees. He has a BA in Chemistry from Harvard and an MBA from the University of Chicago and has received the John R. Hogness Lectureship (AAHC), the Legion of Merit, Harvard National Scholar and Eagle Scout awards, as well as holding three US patents.

David Heymann, MD

WHO

David Heymann earned his MD at Wake Forest University in his native United States. His public health career has spanned more than 30 years as he worked on smallpox eradication in India in the 1970s and began many years of service for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He participated in the first investigation of Ebola fever in Africa in 1976, and in 1995 he led the international response to outbreaks of the disease. As executive director of the WHO Programme on Emerging and Other Communicable Diseases cluster of departments from 1998 until 2003, he led WHO’s efforts to fight severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). In 2003, he was appointed representative to the Director-General for polio eradication. In 2006, David became acting Assistant Director-General for WHO’s Communicable Diseases cluster of departments and the Director-General’s representative for pandemic influenza.

John Horekens

Former UN Director and International Consultant A graduate in political science from Brussels University and the Europe College in Bruges, Belgium, John Horekens started his international career with UNDP in 1972. After several program assignments in the field (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Laos), he joined UNHCR in 1980. From then to 2001, he held positions in operations in Uganda, Djibouti, in fund-raising at HQ in Geneva, then as UNHCR Representative in Sudan, and finally in a variety of directorial posts in Geneva, the last one as Director of Communication and Information. As Director for Europe, he coordinated the international conference on population movements in the CIS (1996), where he was also the Chairman of the Drafting Committee. Upon leaving the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, John worked for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, where he was Director of External Relations, in 2002-03. He then joined the secretariat of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction where he was the Coordinator of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in Kobe, Japan, in January 2005. He later coordinated the Third Early Warning Conference convened in Bonn, Germany, in March 2006. Since May 2006, John runs a private consulting firm and is a partner in the Humanitarian & Development Network, a company established in the Geneva area.

Tara O'Toole, MD

University of Pittsburgh

Dr. O’Toole is the CEO and Director of the Center for Biosecurity at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and Professor of Medicine and of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. The Center for Biosecurity of UPMC is an independent organization dedicated to improving the country’s resilience to major biological threats. Dr. O’Toole is internationally known for her work on biosecurity and on health and safety issues related to the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. She is Coeditor-in-Chief of the journal Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science. Prior to founding the UPMC Center in 2003, Dr. O’Toole was one of the original members of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies and served as its Director from 2001 to 2003. She has served on numerous government and expert advisory committees dealing with biodefense, including panels of the Defense Science Board; the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Combating Terrorism; and the National Academy of Sciences Working Group on Biological Weapons. In 2004, she was elected Chair of the Board of the Federation of American Scientists. From 1993 to 1997, Dr. O’Toole served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment Safety and Health. Prior to her work at DOE, Dr. O’Toole was a Senior Analyst at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), where she directed studies of the health impact of pollution resulting from nuclear weapons production, among other projects. She also served as a consultant to industry and government in matters related to occupational and environmental health, worker participation in workplace safety protection, and organizational change. Dr. O’Toole practiced general internal medicine in community health centers in Baltimore from 1984 to 1988. She is board certified in internal medicine and in occupational and environmental health. She has a bachelor's degree from Vassar College, an MD from the George Washington University, and a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University. She completed internal medicine residency training at Yale and a fellowship in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.