Philip K. Russell, MD

Past Chairman

Retired Major General Philip K. Russell, M.D. served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1959 to 1990, pursuing a career in infectious disease and tropical medicine research.

Following his training in internal medicine, he assumed a succession of research assignments at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and overseas laboratories in Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. He conducted laboratory and clinical research on a variety of viral and parasitic infectious diseases, including dengue, malaria, hepatitis, and respiratory viruses.

Russell has authored or co-authored more than 100 research publications and contributed to the successful development of several vaccines important to the military and public health, including those of adenovirus, meningitis, and hepatitis A and B. Later, as director of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, he led research on vaccines against dengue and malaria. As commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command, he spearheaded a major effort to increase the capability of the armed forces to defend against biological agents. His military awards include the legion of Merit and the Distinguished Service Medal.

Following his military service, Russell joined Johns Hopkins University's School of Hygiene and Public Health as professor of international health and worked closely with the World Health Organization as special advisor to the Children's Vaccine Initiative. He was founding board member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative. After becoming professor emeritus in 1997, he served as an advisor to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as several vaccine programs and was instrumental in creating the Malaria Vaccine Initiative.

Russell has served on numerous advisory boards of national and international agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health and the Institute of Medicine, He served on the Boards of Directors of the International Vaccine Institute and the Aeras Foundation, and continues to be an integral part of the Albert B. Sabin Vaccine Institute. Following the anthrax attacks in 2001, Russell led a Department of Health and Human Services effort to develop and stockpile vaccines and other medical countermeasures against bioterrorism agents. He continues to work on the development of vaccines for the developing world.