Jeffrey P. Koplan is an American physician and epidemiologist who is the Vice President for Global Health at

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of h ...

. He established and became the first Director of the Emory Global Health Institute from 2006 to 2013. Koplan was the director of the

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, Georg ...

from 1998 to 2002; he had previously worked at the CDC for more than twenty years, looking into HIV-contaminated blood, as well as the

Bhopal disaster The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...

. During his tenure as Director, he fought syphilis, and supervised the investigation into the

2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and "anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

; before leaving the agency in March 2002. Koplan earned a bachelor's degree in English from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the worl ...

, a master's degree in public health from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and a medical doctorate from the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

Controversy

In the late 1990s, Congress gave the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) $23 million to conduct research on myalgic encephalomyelitis (also known as "chronic fatigue syndrome"). After concerns were raised about how these funds were being spent, an investigation was conducted by inspector general June Gibbons Brown. The investigation revealed that $12 million of the funds were not properly allocated towards CFS research and the CDC had provided inaccurate statements (to Congress) regarding the CDC's investment in CFS research. Dr. Jeffrey Koplan defended the actions of the CDC with the following statement: "While CDC is not legally prohibited from spending funds budgeted for CFS on other programs, we acknowledge the importance of complying with the intent of Congress and providing information to Congress."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koplan, Jeffrey Directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Yale College alumni Harvard School of Public Health alumni Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Emory University faculty Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people People from Boston Living people Clinton administration personnel George W. Bush administration personnel