Adel Mahmoud, M.D. Ph.D., is President of the Merck Vaccines at Merck & Co., Inc. He formerly served at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland as Chairman of Medicine and Physician-in-Chief from 1087- 1998. Born in Cairo, Egypt, Mahmoud received his M.D. degree from the University in Cairo. He was selected a WHO fellow to study for a Ph.D. degree at the University of London, School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which he was awarded in 1971. Mahmoud conducted investigations on the biology and functions of eosinophiles. He prepared the first specific anti-eosinophil serum, which was used to define the role of these cells in host resistance to helminthic infections. Mahmoud also established clinical and laboratory investigations in Kenya, Egypt, and The Philippines to examine the determinants of infection and disease in schistosomiasis and other infectious agents. This work led to the development of innovative strategies to control those infections, which have been adopted by the World Health Organization as selective population Chemotherapy. Mahmoud turned his attention to developing a comprehensive set of responses to the problems associated with Emerging Infections and the need to expand immunization and the reach of vaccines in the developing world. He was elected to membership of the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1978,, the Association of American Physicians in 1980, and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1987. Mahmoud is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Expert Advisory Panel on Parasitic Diseases of the World Health Organization. He is a past-President of the Central Society for Clinical Research and the International Society for Infectious Diseases. Mahmoud currently serves as Chair of the Forum on Emerging Infections and is a member of the Board on Global Health, both of the Institute of Medicine. He also chairs the US delegation to the US-Japan Cooperative Medical Sciences Program.