MSH’s CEO Will Help Advise WHO on Vaccine Development

MSH’s President and CEO, Marian W. Wentworth, will join the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Malaria Vaccine Advisory Committee (MALVAC) for a two-year appointment. The Committee advises the WHO’s Secretariat of the Initiative for Vaccine Research on overall strategy and goals, product preferences, and R&D priorities to guide vaccine development and policy decisions.

While the world has made great strides in controlling, preventing, and treating malaria, progress has stalled, and we need to do more to eliminate it, especially in countries with the highest rates of the disease. An effective vaccine would be a valuable tool, and the WHO advisory committees, including MALVAC, have been supporting efforts to develop it for years by bringing together scientists, regulators, private sector experts, and public health professionals to provide guidance on research and roll-out.

Ms. Wentworth has more than 25 years of experience managing and leading complex international public health initiatives. At Merck & Co., she led the global strategy for marketing, manufacturing, and research for the company’s $6 billion dollar vaccines business, and led the global sales and marketing launch of the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, and managed a portfolio of adult vaccines for shingles, influenza, pneumococcal disease, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, and tetanus.

Ms. Wentworth also serves on the Value of Vaccination Research Network Steering Committee, WHO’s Product Development for Vaccines Advisory Committee, and the Measles Rubella Microarray Patch Committee.