David L. Heymann (born 1946) is an American infectious disease epidemiologist and public health expert, based in London.

Early life and education

Heymann was born in Pennsylvania, USA. He received his Bachelor of Arts from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

and later obtained an MD from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He also received a diploma in tropical medicine and hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Heymann did two years of practical epidemiology training with the

Epidemic Intelligence Service The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work. History Creation ...

, during which time Heymann was part of the international team that investigated the first outbreak of

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

in Zaire (with Peter Piot, Karl Johnson, Joel Breman, Joe McCormick amongst others) and the first outbreak of

Legionnaire's disease Legionnaires' disease is a form of atypical pneumonia caused by any species of ''Legionella'' bacteria, quite often '' Legionella pneumophila''. Signs and symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches. Naus ...

, in Philadelphia.

Career

Heymann was appointed chairman of the board of the UK Health Protection Agency in April 2009. He remained chairman of the board when HPA was merged into

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...

in 2013. At the same time, he started and became head and senior fellow of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, London (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and in 2010 joined the faculty at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine as professor of infectious disease epidemiology. Heymann was the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...

's assistant director-general for health, security, and rnvironment, and the representative of the director-general for

polio eradication Polio eradication, the permanent global cessation of circulation by the poliovirus and hence elimination of the poliomyelitis (polio) it causes, is the aim of a multinational public health effort begun in 1988, led by the World Health Organiz ...

. Previously, from 1998–2003, he was executive director of the WHO Communicable Diseases Cluster and from October 1995 to July 1998 he was director of the WHO Programme on Emerging and other Communicable Diseases. Prior to this, he was the chief of research activities in the WHO Global Programme on AIDS. Heymann was also chairman of the Strategic Advisory Group of

Hilleman Laboratories Hilleman Laboratories is a Delhi-based vaccine research organization. The firm is an equal-joint venture between US drug maker Merck & Co Inc and British charitable foundation Wellcome Trust. The research firm is named in the honour of Dr. Ma ...

. Heymann is visiting professor in the department of medicine at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

, and an associate provost (health affairs). Before joining WHO, Heymann worked for 13 years as a medical epidemiologist in sub-Saharan Africa on assignment from the US

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

. He also worked in India for two years as a medical epidemiologist in the WHO Smallpox Eradication Programme, where smallpox was eradicated in 1978. Heymann also took an active role in the first

outbreak in 1976, and led the response team during the 1995 Kikwit outbreak. In 2003, Heymann was at the forefront of the SARS epidemic, working with his team to mediate international effort to halt the pandemic. For his work in public health, Heymann is regarded as one of the "disease cowboys". Heymann also served as editor of the 18th through 20th editions of the

Control of Communicable Diseases Manual The ''Control of Communicable Diseases Manual'' (CCDM) is one of the most widely recognized reference volumes on the topic of infectious diseases. It is useful for physicians, epidemiologists, global travelers, emergency volunteers and all who hav ...

, a publication of the American Public Health Association. On 5 August 2020, Heymann was deployed as part of a WHO "surge team" in South Africa to help strengthen the national and provincial responses to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Awards

*Named

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) (2009) *Named to the

United States Institute of Medicine United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

(2004) *Named Commendador, Encomienda de Sanidad, Orden Civil de Sanidad (Spain) ( 2004) *Named

Paul Harris Fellow Paul Percy Harris (April 19, 1868 – January 27, 1947) was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney. He founded the club that became the humanitarian organisation Rotary International in 1905. Personal life Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, to Ge ...

, Rotary International *Named to the United Kingdom

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its mission is to adv ...

(2010) *Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'' from Sapienza-Università di Roma *Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'' from City University London (2011) *Doctor of Science ''honoris causa'' from

University of York , mottoeng = On the threshold of wisdom , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £8.0 million , budget = £403.6 million , chancellor = Heather Melville , vice_chancellor = Charlie Jeffery , students ...

(2016) *

Donald Mackay Medal Dr. Donald Mackay was deputy Director of the Ross Institute at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He worked for many years in tropical occupational health, especially on the tea plantations of South Asia. He died in 1981. Dona ...

by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene * American Public Health Association Award for Excellence *Welling Professorship at the George Washington University School of Public Health *The 13th Annual Heinz Award for the Human ConditionThe Heinz Awards, David Heymann profile
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References

External links

WHO Profile of Dr. Heymann
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heymann, David L. 1946 births Living people World Health Organization officials Academics of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Chatham House people Pennsylvania State University alumni Wake Forest University alumni Physicians from Pennsylvania George Washington University faculty American officials of the United Nations Members of the National Academy of Medicine