Dr. Davidson H. Hamer is a Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and Chobanian & Avesidian School of Medicine. Dr. Hamer, a board-certified specialist in infectious diseases with a particular interest in tropical infectious diseases, has extensive field experience in neonatal and child survival research including studies of micronutrient interventions, maternal and neonatal health, malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases. Dr. Hamer received an MD from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and a BA in Biology and French from Amherst College. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society of Travel Medicine. Dr. Hamer currently has active projects in Bangladesh, Uganda, Zambia, and the United States. Major current projects include neonatal sepsis prevention using prebiotics and probiotics in Bangladesh; an autopsy study of fungal infections in HIV-infected patients in Uganda; etiologies of sepsis in HIV-exposed and uninfected children in Zambia; and a prospective cohort study of Chagas disease among US immigrants. He played a major role at Boston University during the COVID-19 pandemic, guiding the University's control program.
Dr. Kevin C. Kain is the Director of SAR Laboratories at Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, UHN-Toronto General Hospital, the Director of the Tropical Disease Unit at the UHN-Toronto General Hospital, and a Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, and he holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Molecular Parasitology. Dr. Kain received his medical degree (cum laude) from the University of Western Ontario, undertook his residency training at the University of British Columbia, and post-doctoral research training as a Senior Research Associate at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington DC, working on the first generation of malaria vaccines. Dr. Kain was profiled by TIME magazine as one of “Canada’s Best in Medicine”. He has served as a board member or consultant to many organizations including the Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, WHO, Red Cross, Canadian Blood Services, and the CDC. Dr. Kain’s research efforts are focused on developing a translational research program that characterizes host–parasite interactions responsible for major global infectious disease threats, particularly as they pertain to women and children.
