Barry R. Bloom

Dr. Bloom is Harvard University's Distinguished Service Professor of the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases and Former Dean of the Harvard School of Public Health. He received a bachelor’s degree and an honorary Sc.D. from Amherst Colege, and a Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. He is widely recognized for his work in the area of cell-mediated immunity, infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis and leprosy, and global health. The discovery of lymphocyte-produced cytokines and the development of genetic systems in mycobacteria are among his scientific contributions. He has published over 300 papers and edited 4 books. He served as a consultant to the White House on International Health Policy, was elected President of the American Association of Immunologists, and served as President of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Dr. Bloom has been extensively involved with the World Health Organization (WHO) for more than 40 years. He was a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research (ACHR) and chaired the WHO Committees on Immunology of Leprosy (IMMLEP), Immunology of Tuberculosis (IMMTUB), the Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee of the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (STAC) and chaired the WHO Global Malaria Programme. He was first chair of the Board of Trustees of the International Vaccine Institute, Seoul, Korea. He as served on the National Advisory Councils of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIH, and the Center for Infectious Diseases, of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He currently serves on the scientific advisory boards of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, K-RITH, and Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa). He has received numerous awards for his scientific work including the first Bristol-Myers Award in Infectious Diseases, the Robert Koch Gold Medal for lifetime achievement in research, and shared the Novartis Award in Immunology. He was elected to membership of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society.