Malaria No More announced today that Dr. David Bowen is joining the organization as its new Chief Executive Officer starting November 28th. Most recently Deputy Director for Global Health Policy and Advocacy at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Dr. Bowen brings a broad range of knowledge and expertise to the role.
“On behalf of the Malaria No More Board of Directors, I am thrilled to welcome David to the team,” said Chairman Peter Chernin. “David is uniquely suited to lead our effort to ensure that no child dies of malaria, a preventable and treatable disease. He joins our organization as we build upon our work to raise awareness, promote continued support for U.S. leadership in the fight against malaria, and make investments that have real impact in the lives of families in Africa.”
Prior to the Gates Foundation, Dr. Bowen was formerly staff director for health of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. He left the Senate staff following the successful enactment of health care reform legislation. In 1999, Dr. Bowen joined the staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions as a Congressional Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. From 2000 to 2002, he held a joint appointment as a visiting fellow in the Department of Health Care Policy at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining the committee staff, Dr. Bowen received his undergraduate education at Brown University, and then earned a PhD in neurobiology at the University of California, San Francisco.
“Malaria No More came on the malaria scene five years ago and changed the way the world thinks about malaria,” said Dr. Bowen. “I’m incredibly excited to join the team and to build upon Malaria No More’s history of innovation to find new ways to help the world defeat the disease.”
Dr. Bowen takes the helm at a pivotal moment in the history of the fight against malaria. International funding has increased significantly in recent years, leading to the distribution of millions of mosquito nets and better access to life-saving diagnosis and medicine than ever before. Thanks to this surge in energy, malaria deaths have fallen by 20 percent since 2000—yet these gains are fragile. To sustain progress against the disease, the malaria community cannot lose its momentum.
“Malaria No More is part of a global malaria community, united in our common mission to end malaria deaths in Africa by 2015,” said Malaria No More co-founder and UN Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers. “David’s leadership is an integral part of that effort and—with his guidance—Malaria No More will help write the next chapter in the history of the fight against the disease.”
Dr. Bowen will be based out of Malaria No More’s Policy Center in Washington, DC.
