Dr. Carlos Medicis Morel is the Director of the Centre for Technological Development in Health (CDTS) and a Senior Researcher at, and a former President of, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz, http://www.fiocruz.br), an institution affiliated to the Ministry of Health of Brazil to which he has devoted over forty years of his distinguished career.
Maintaining his affiliations with Fiocruz, he served from 1998 to 2004 as the Director of TDR (UNICEF-UNDP-World Bank-WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, http://www.who.int/tdr) at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to his work at Fiocruz, Dr. Morel was an Associate Professor with the Institute of Biology of the University of Brasilia (UnB), Brasilia, Brazil, and earlier, an Assistant Professor with the University’s Faculty of Medicine.
He actively participated in creation of various programs and organizations of worldwide recognition to promote research and development in neglected diseases: Global Forum for Health Research, Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), Medicines for Malaria Venture MMV), Global Alliance for Tuberculosis Drug Development (TB Alliance, where he served twice as Chairperson of its Board of Directors), Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND, currently a Board member).
He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the recipient of several commendations and awards including the Brazilian National Order of Scientific Merit, Grand Cross Class; the City of Rio de Janeiro Award in Science and Technology, Doctor Honoris Causa by the Federal University of Pernambuco; Honorary Fellow by the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London; and the Jorge Careli Medal for Human Rights.
Dr. Morel received his MD from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and his DSc in Biophysics and Molecular Biology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In addition to his affiliation with Fiocruz and his activities as Director CDTS, he is Professor at the Graduate Program in Public Policy, Strategy, and Development, offered at the master and doctoral levels, Institute of Economics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He authored 115 papers in peer-reviewed international scientific journals and mentored the theses of 20 MSc and 10 DSc graduate students.