Meet the GHTC Steering Committee

Steering Committee Biographies

Rachel M. Cohen
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative

Rachel Cohen joined the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) as the Regional Executive Director of DNDi North America in January 2011. Cohen has been working in the global health and humanitarian field for more than 15 years, primarily with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Most recently, she served as Head of Mission for MSF in South Africa and Lesotho, where she oversaw numerous medical programs, primarily focused on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis treatment in rural and peri-urban settings, primary health care for Zimbabwean refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants, and emergency care for survivors of sexual violence. Before working for MSF in the field, Cohen held numerous positions with MSF in New York, including US Director for MSF's Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, where she directed policy advocacy activities related to drug pricing, intellectual property, and medical innovation for neglected diseases. Prior to joining MSF, she was the Director of Foundation & Corporate Giving at Housing Works, the largest grassroots AIDS service organization in the US, and before that, served as the Program Coordinator for the US+Cuba Medical Project, where she directed medical aid programs and carried out educational and advocacy initiatives about the impact of US foreign policy on the health of the Cuban population. Cohen now serves on the Board of Directors of MSF's Operational Center in Brussels. She earned a Master of Public Policy with a Certificate in Health and Health Policy from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Kevin Fisher
AVAC

Kevin is the Policy Director of AVAC and focuses on new regulatory, legislative, financial and scientific approaches to accelerating the development new HIV prevention options. He also serves as the director of the annual resource tracking reports from the HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Resource Tracking Working Group. He has served as a member of the AIDS Vaccine Research Subcommittee. He is co-chair of the research subcommittee and a member of the convening group of the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership, and Vice Chair of the Drug Development Committee of the AIDS Treatment Activist Coalition.Prior to joining AVAC, Kevin worked for over 20 years as a regulatory and transactional counsel, most recently as Senior Counsel with Covington & Burling. At Covington, he workedon drug and vaccine development and delivery issues for groups such as the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Human Rights Watch, the Center for Global Development and the World Parkinson Congress. Kevin has a BA from Brown University, a JD from New York University School of Law and a MSc in Epidemiology from Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Heather Ignatius
The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development

Heather Ignatius is the senior manager of policy at the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development. Since joining the TB Alliance in 2004, Ms. Ignatius has worked on policy and advocacy issues, focusing on the design and implementation of advocacy and policy strategies to influence donor governments. She also oversees the TB Alliance’s community engagement programs and manages several of the organization’s external partnerships, including its stakeholders association. From 2004 – 2007, Ms. Ignatius served as the secretariat of the Stop TB Partnership Working Group on New Drugs and was instrumental in the development of the group's contribution to the Global Plan to Stop TB: 2006 - 2015. She also contributed to the TB Alliance’s early policy research on the dynamics of the TB drug market, stakeholder perceptions of current and new TB drugs and country decision-making processes for regimen change.

Prior to joining the TB Alliance, Ms. Ignatius worked for the United Nations Foundation on peace and security issues, including a program to engage the private sector in post-conflict environments. She has also worked at the National Endowment for Democracy in the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows program and at the Women’s Research and Education Institute. Ms. Ignatius holds an M.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a B.A. in Political Science/International Relations from the University of California at San Diego.

Jeff Meer
Public Health Institute

Jeff Meer is special advisor for global health policy and development at the Public Health Institute. Based in Washington, DC, he provides strategic guidance to the organization on global health advocacy and develops new business proposals for global health projects. Prior to this, he had been director of international advocacy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Earlier, Mr. Meer was director of external relations for CHF International, a large international development nonprofit, where he oversaw private-sector fundraising, communications, and government relations activities. He had also been executive director of the US Association for UNHCR, a private nonprofit that builds financial and political support for the United Nations Refugee Agency as well as founding program officer for peace and security at the UN Foundation. Mr. Meer was a foreign service officer with the US Department of State for more than a decade, serving overseas in the People’s Republic of China and in Germany, as well as in Washington. During this time, he was a staff delegate to the UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. Mr. Meer began his career as a magazine journalist, writing approximately 100 articles and reviews on a variety of mental health topics, and also published “Sports and Drugs,” a book intended for high school students. Mr. Meer is a graduate of Dartmouth College with a Bachelors degree in French language and literature. He speaks French, German and Cantonese Chinese. He is married with two grown children, and lives in Silver Spring, MD.

Rachel Wilson
PATH

As director of policy and advocacy at PATH, Ms. Wilson is responsible for the development, management, and evaluation of the organization’s advocacy and public policy initiatives. PATH is an international nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. With more than 15 years of experience in public health advocacy, research, and communications both in the US and globally, Ms. Wilson has held numerous public policy leadership roles in global and women’s health, health disparities, and infectious diseases.  Before joining PATH in 2006, Ms. Wilson served as director of policy communications at the Global Health Council.  Previously, she served as the director of women’s health policy and advocacy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and director of policy and advocacy at the Massachusetts Public Health Association. Prior to her work in public policy, she coordinated epidemiologic research on women and children’s health at the Boston University Schools of Public Health and Medicine.

Ms. Wilson earned her Master in Public Health from Boston University.