Accordia Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors brings a wealth of experience and knowledge, providing strategic guidance and strong governance.
Officers
Henry A. McKinnell, Jr., PhD
Chair
Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD
President
Nelson Sewankambo, MD
Vice President
Robert Mallett
Treasurer
Carol Spahn
Secretary
Board Members
Katherine Burke
Global Health Advocate
Gary M. Cohen
Executive Vice President, BD
Anne Collins
Global Health Advocate
Mark Dybul, MD
Co-Director, Global Health Law Center at Georgetown University Law School's O'Neill Institute
Joseph M. Feczko, MD
(Retired) Senior Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Pfizer Inc
Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH
President, Merck Vaccines
Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD
Director, Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, Nick and Sue Hellman Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine; Professor of Medicine, Microbiology and Immunology; University of California, San Francisco
Donald A. Holzworth, MS
Executive in Residence, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health
Robert Mallett
Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Public and Senior Markets Group, a division of United Health Group
Henry A. McKinnell, Jr., PhD
(Retired) Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc
Suzanne Sande Mrlik
Global Health Advocate
Hiromitsu Ogawa
Managing Partner and Founder, Quest Venture Partners
Fred Port
(Retired) Director of Callaway Golf and President of Callaway Golf International
Steve Sinacore
Co-Founder and Principal of Atrevida Partners, LLC
Katherine Burke grew up in Rochester, New York, and attended Harvard College and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. She worked for 15 years in journalism as a reporter, editor, and publisher for such publications as The Boston Globe, Inside Sports, and The American Lawyer. She is active as a global health advocate at UCSF and Harvard, and lives in San Francisco with her husband and three sons.
Gary Cohen is executive vice president of Becton, Dickinson & Co. (BD), a global medical technology company with over $7 billion revenues and 29,000 employees in 50 countries. He is board chair of the Centers for Disease Control Foundation (CDC) and a board director for the Perrigo Company, the US Fund for UNICEF and the Accordia Global Health Foundation. He also serves as chair of the CDC/Corporate Roundtable on Global Health Threats and an advisor to the Clinton Global Initiative. Mr. Cohen and the BD team are extensively engaged in collaborations across the public, private and NGO sectors, seeking to address health needs in developing and emerging countries. He has served as an advocate, speaker, and expert panelist on global health, child immunization, HIV/AIDS, and health system strengthening, in venues including the United Nations, World Bank, US State Department, World Economic Forum (Davos) and Council on Foreign Relations. Mr. Cohen and leaders from the CDC, UNICEF, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNIFEM and other partners launched a new initiative in September 2009 to address sexual violence against girls. He has been honored with the Corporate Leadership Award by MESAB (Medical Education for South African Blacks), the Distinguished Humanitarian Award by B’nai B’rith International and the Helenka Pantaleoni Award by the US Fund for UNICEF.
Anne Collins is active in a number of volunteer and charitable organizations. She is a member of the board of governors of Opportunity International and has been involved in micro-financing efforts in Latin America and Africa. She has participated with Habitat for Humanity in numerous building projects inside and outside of the United States. Ms. Collins has also been involved with several arts organizations, including the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Bravo Music Festival in Vail, Colorado.
She has a bachelor’s degree from the College of St. Catherine and a masters of arts in social work from the University of Minnesota.
Ambassador Mark Dybul is the co-director of the Global Health Law Center at Georgetown University Law School’s O’Neill Institute and holds the title of distinguished scholar. Additionally, Ambassador Dybul is the inaugural global health fellow of the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas.
He previously acted as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator from 2006-2009, serving as both a planning member in the origination of and leader of implementation for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). There, he also oversaw U.S. government engagement in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Prior to that, Dybul was Acting, Deputy, and Assistant Coordinator for the Global AIDS program. He led President Bush’s International Prevention of Mother and Child HIV initiative at the Department of Health and Human Services and served as the Assistant Director for Medical Affairs at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He also chaired the Joint United Nations Programme coordinating board on AIDS.
Ambassador Dybul received his MD from Georgetown University and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals. Then, he completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. In 2007, Ambassador Dybul received the Accordia Global Healthcare Leadership Award.
Joseph Feczko, MD was until May 2009, senior vice president and chief medical officer (CMO) of Pfizer Inc and member of the executive leadership team with global responsibilities for all aspects of the company’s medical, regulatory, and safety activities. He is board certified (U.S.) in internal medicine and infectious diseases. Following a time in private practice, he joined Pfizer in 1982 in New York. He then worked for ten years in the United Kingdom for both Pfizer and Glaxo where his responsibilities included supervising clinical research, regulatory affairs, data management, and safety reporting. He returned to Pfizer in New York in 1996 where he held positions of increasing responsibility in clinical research, regulatory affairs, and safety, culminating in the role of CMO.
He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, the International Longevity Center, and the New York Academy of Medicine. In addition to serving as a member of the Board of Directors of Accordia Global Health Foundation, Dr. Feczko is also on the board of the Technical Expert Committee for Trachoma on the International Trachoma Initiative of the Task Force for Global Health and a member of the governing board of the Technology Strategy Board of the United Kingdom. He is currently chairman of the board of directors of Cardoz Pharmaceuticals AB (Stockholm, Sweden), a member of the Board of Directors of Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (New York), and a member of the Supervisory Board of Amsterdam Molecular Therapeutics based in The Netherlands.
Dr. Julie Gerberding joined Merck in January 2010 as the president of Merck Vaccines. She is responsible for the commercialization of the current portfolio of vaccines, planning for the introduction of vaccines from the company's robust vaccine pipeline, and accelerating Merck's ongoing efforts to broaden access to its vaccines in the developing world.
Before joining Merck, Dr. Gerberding led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as director from 2002 to 2009. In this position, she was responsible for coordinating more than 40 emergency response initiatives for public health crises including anthrax bioterrorism, SARS, avian influenza, and natural disasters. She also advised governments around the world on urgent public health issues such as AIDS, chronic diseases, and obesity. Dr. Gerberding originally joined the CDC in 1998 as Director for the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) within CDC. There she developed CDC's patient safety initiatives and other programs to prevent infections, antimicrobial resistance and medical errors in healthcare settings.
Dr. Gerberding received her undergraduate degree and her MD from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. She completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology and Infectious Diseases at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). As a tenured academician, she worked in a range of clinical, research and teaching roles prior to joining the CDC in 1998. Dr. Gerberding also received her masters of public health at the University of California, Berkeley in 1990.
She is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the American College of Physicians and is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine in Infectious Diseases at UCSF.
Dr. Gerberding has received more than 50 awards and honors, including the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Distinguished Service Award for her leadership in responses to anthrax bioterrorism and the September 11, 2001 attacks. She was named to Forbes Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women in the world in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 and was named to TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2004.
Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD is the founding director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology (GIVI), as well as the Nick and Sue Hellmann Distinguished Professor of Translational Medicine, as a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and president of Accordia Global Health Foundation. Under his direction, GIVI has established an international reputation for excellence in the study of HIV and AIDS. Dr. Greene also serves as co-director of the federally-funded UCSF-GIVI Center for AIDS Research. The author of more than 325 scientific papers, Dr. Greene has been honored by outstanding investigator awards from the American Federation for Clinical Research and the American College of Rheumatology and has been recognized as one of the 100 most-cited scientists in the world. He is a fellow of the American Academy for the Advancement of Science, a Councilor of the Association of American Physicians, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies.
Donald A. Holzworth is executive in residence at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health. He is chairman of the School’s Advisory Council and an adjunct professor of Health Policy and Management. He is the former chairman of Futures Group International and founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Constella Group, two leading global providers of integrated approaches to improving the health and well-being of people worldwide. He is co-founder and chairman of Expression Analysis, Inc., a genomic services company spun out of Duke University Medical Center. He serves on the boards of Veritas Collaborative, Williams Innovations, SLG Ventures, the UNC Educational Foundation, and on the advisory board for Southern Capitol Ventures. His public health experience led to a 2008 appointment to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS.
Robert Mallett Robert L. Mallett is Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Public and Senior Markets Group, a division of United Health Group. As such, he is the chief legal officer for this division and manages the legal operations of its several businesses: Americhoice, Ovations, United Military and Veterans Services, and Insurance Solutions.
Immediately prior to joining United Health Group, Mr. Mallett served as Senior Vice President, Worldwide Policy & Public Affairs, Pfizer Inc. He also chaired Pfizer’s Intellectual Property Task Force and co-led the company’s efforts on enhancing global access to medicines.
Prior to joining Pfizer in April 2001, Mr. Mallett served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce. By appointment of the President, he served on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation and was a member of the 3-member Federal Steel Loan Guaranty Board.
Prior to his federal executive service, Mr. Mallett was a shareholder and associate attorney at two major law firms in Washington, D.C. He also served as City Administrator and Deputy Mayor for the District of Columbia under Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly, and Legal Counsel to former United States Senator Lloyd Bentsen. He has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Law Center, and was a Visiting Professor at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable John R. Brown of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Mr. Mallett is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administrators. He is also on the boards of Fisk University and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Mr. Mallett is a past chairman of the U.S.-South Africa Business Council, former chair of the Board of Directors of the International Trachoma Initiative, former chairman of the Board of Governors of Wesley Theological Seminary, and immediate past co-chair of the Board of Directors of Appleseed Foundation. He is a former member of the boards of Medical Education for South African Blacks, JHPIEGO, and North General Hospital in New York’s historic Harlem community.
Mr. Mallett is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College (1979) and received his law degree from Harvard University in 1982, where he was Projects Editor of the Harvard Civil Right-Civil Liberties Law Review. He resides in New York City.
Henry A. McKinnell Jr, PhD, Chairman of the Board
Hank McKinnell retired as chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc, the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company, in 2007, after originally joining the company in Tokyo in 1970. Over the years, he held positions of increasing responsibility around the world, including service as president of Pfizer Asia, based in Hong Kong, and country manager for Iran and Afghanistan. In 1984, Hank relocated to New York, where he served as vice president of strategic planning; chief financial officer and president of Pfizer Medical Device Group; president of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group; president and chief operating officer; president and chief executive officer from January 2001 to May 2001; and as chairman and chief executive officer, from May 2001 to August 2006; and chairman to December, 2006.
At Accordia, Dr. McKinnell serves as a member of distinction of the Academic Alliance and chairman of the Board of Directors of Accordia. He is also a member of the Boards of Directors of Moody’s Corporation. He is chairman emeritus of: the Connecticut Science Center; the Business Roundtable, an association of 170 CEO’s of America’s largest companies; the Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers Association; the Food and Drug Law Institute; and the Medical Device Manufacturers Association. Dr. McKinnell also served as vice chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF) and as a member of the WEF Foundation Board of Trustees. He served on the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He is a Director of the Medal of Honor Foundation, the Royal Shakespeare Company of America, the Japan Society, and a member of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business Advisory Council.
Dr. McKinnell holds a bachelor's degree in business from the University of British Columbia, and MBA and PhD degrees from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Recent honors include the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, Japan’s highest award given to non-royals or heads of state; the Islamic Republic of Pakistan’s Sitara-i-Eisaar award, Pakistan’s highest award for humanitarian relief; the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for contributions to health services in Uganda; the United Nations Association of the United States of America’s Global Leadership Award; the Woodrow Wilson Institute Corporate Service Award, Columbia University’s Teachers College Cleveland E. Dodge Medal for Distinguished Service to Education; Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business Arbuckle Award and Excellence in Leadership Award; and an honorary doctorate in engineering from Polytechnic University.
Zanne Sande Mrlik resides in the San Francisco Bay area, where she is active as a community organizer and fundraiser, primarily in the area of education. Ms. Mrlik is the daughter of Accordia co-founder, Dr. Merle A. Sande (1939-2007), the visionary who pioneered many of the models Accordia advocates for today. Ms. Mrlik began her professional career as a civil litigator for Bronson, Bronson, and McKinnon, a major law firm in San Francisco. Over the past ten years, she has transitioned to community volunteer work in education and fundraising. Ms. Mrlik has a BA from Stanford University and a JD from Santa Clara University School of Law.
Hiromitsu Ogawa is the managing partner and founder of Quest Venture Partners. Mr. Ogawa has worked in the container leasing industry for over 30 years; 19 of which were with CAI International Inc, (NYSE: CAP), which he founded and still presides over as executive chairman of the board. Prior to founding CAI in 1989, he was with Itel Containers for 12 years as vice president of marketing for Japan and Korea. Earlier in his career, he also held the position of executive managing director of Heublein Japan Co., Ltd., and was brand management and sales promotion manager for Coca-Cola Japan Co., Ltd. Mr. Ogawa graduated from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies with a BA in English-economics management, followed by two years of post-graduate work at the University of Washington Business School. He is an active member of the community and sits on the Boards of the American Red Cross Bay Area Chapter and the San Francisco Opera. He received the Ernst & Young Northern California Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Business Services in June 2008.
Fred Port joined the Accordia Board in 2004, serving as chairman of the Audit Committee and as a member of the Executive Committee. He retired as a director of Callaway Golf and president of Callaway Golf International. He served in a variety of board and senior management positions with several companies over a 35 year span, with an emphasis on strategic change, global operations, acquisitions, revitalization and senior management succession. In addition, he dedicates substantial effort to community activities, currently serving his 26th year with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). He is Chairman of CASA's Advisory Board and has been recognized nationally as Director of the Year, and by the State of California as Volunteer of the Year. Mr. Port counsels start up and mature businesses, with an emphasis on strategy, and often speaks on leadership and career development. As a cancer survivor, Mr. Port is a frequent speaker and mentor to those confronting cancer. Mr. Port is an honors graduate of the Anderson School at UCLA with an MBA degree.
Nelson Sewankambo, MBChB, MMED, MSc, FRCP
Dr. Nelson Sewankambo is Principal of the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Dr. Sewankambo was among the first scientists to publish data on AIDS in Africa, was instrumental in starting the AIDS Clinic at Mulago Hospital in Uganda, and continues to be active in HIV/AIDS research. He is currently Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI) of the Rakai Health Sciences Program. Sewankambo was founding Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit, and Co-PI of the Behavioral and Qualitative Research on AIDS Prevention funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre. He has served on numerous local and international advisory boards including the Working Party on the Ethics of Clinical Research in Developing Countries of the Nuffield Council for Bioethics, the Joint Learning Initiative, the WHO African Advisory Committee on Health and Research Development (AACHRD), and the Board of Directors of the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN). Dr. Sewankambo is also chairman of the Infectious Diseases Institute Board, a member of Council of the Global Forum for Health Research, and a chair of Initiative for Strengthening Health Research Capacity in Africa.
Stephen Sinacore is a co-founder and principal of Atrevida Partners, LLC, an investment advisory firm specializing in alternative asset management. Prior to co-founding Atrevida, he served as treasurer of Citadel Investment Group and also served as interim head of the global energy portfolio. Stephen was previously the chairman and chief executive officer of Zurich Capital Markets Inc. (ZCM), a financial services firm specializing in structured alternative asset products and fund-of-fund management. Prior to ZCM, Mr. Sinacore relocated to London, England, to join RBS Greenwich Capital, and before that, held various roles at J.P. Morgan, both in the London and New York offices.
Stephen also serves on the board of the Darien, CT YMCA and as senior advisor at the Joshua House Fund. He received his degree in Economics and Finance from Fordham University’s College of Business Administration.
As Executive Director of Accordia Global Health Foundation, Carol Spahn is responsible for implementing new strategies and forging new partnerships to expand the impact of Accordia’s healthcare capacity building efforts in Africa. Ms. Spahn previously served at Accordia as its director of finance and administration. Prior to joining Accordia Global Health Foundation, Ms. Spahn was vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer of Small Enterprise Assistance Funds, a non-profit private equity fund manager that invests in small and medium-sized companies in developing countries. Ms. Spahn served in the U.S. Peace Corps as a small business advisor in Romania shortly after the fall of communism and has held several positions with leading financial service institutions, including GE Capital and KPMG Peat Marwick. She holds an MA in international development from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.
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