Close
Dr Tadataka Yamada delivers 2007 UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science
26 October 2007
Links:
ucl.ac.uk/igh" target="_self">UCL Institute for Global Health
Dr Tadataka Yamada, President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health Programme, delivered the 2007 UCL Prize Lecture in Clinical Science on 'Perspectives of Global Health' on 24 October 2007.
Dr Yamada leads the foundation's efforts to help develop and deliver low-cost, life-saving health tools for the developing world. He oversees the foundation's global health grant portfolio and global health advocacy.
Before joining the foundation, Yamada served as Chairman of Research and Development and was a member of the Board of Directors at GlaxoSmithKline. Prior to that, he was chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and Physician-in-Chief at the University of Michigan Medical Center. Yamada is a past president of the American Gastroenterological Association and the Association of American Physicians, a master of the American College of Physicians, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science in the United States and the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK.
Before being awarded the commemorative medal designed by UCL's Tom Lomax (UCL Slade School of Fine Art) by UCL Provost and President, Professor Malcolm Grant, Dr Yamada told a packed lecture theatre about the various challenges being addressed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
"The life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is 50. In the developed world, it's 80. All lives have equal value, and that is the fundamental basis of the foundation," said Dr Yamada. "Where there are no solutions, we must take on the challenge. We have more money, players, interest and technology now than we ever had, so we must count lives saved as our scorecard, not awards or prizes, as our focus for success."
Finding solutions to global health issues is one of UCL's top priorities, and researchers across a large number of disciplines are already engaged in highly effective efforts to combat the root causes of global disease and poverty. The soon-to-be launched UCL Institute for Global Health will be a catalyst in encouraging even more innovative solutions and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
To find out more, use the links at the top of this article
Image: Dr Yamada meets Professor Grant
|
Related news: Study indicates international child and maternal health priorities wrong Professor Robin Weiss wins Ernst Chain Prize for HIV/AIDS work |
Follow us
