Howard Zucker, M.D., J.D.

Dr. Howard Zucker most recently served as the Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization in charge of Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals and also as the Representative of the Director-General for Intellectual Property, Innovation, and Public Health. He received a B.S. degree from McGill University, and his M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine at age 22. He trained in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital, anesthesiology at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, pediatric critical care medicine and pediatric anaesthesiology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and pediatric cardiology at Children's Hospital Boston / Harvard Medical School.

He was an Assistant Professor at Yale University School of Medicine, Director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Associate Professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Adjunct Associate Professor at Cornell University Medical School, research affiliate at the Center for Space Research at M.I.T. and on the faculty at the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Zucker was involved with designing experiments which flew onboard the Space Shuttle Spacelab missions and chaired the National Space Biomedical Research Institute 5-year review. He received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law and his Masters in Law from Columbia Law School where he was a James Kent Scholar. Dr Zucker has served as a White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

He was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his time in Washington he was involved with issues of genetics/tissue engineering, bioterrorism/public health preparedness, the anthrax crisis, preventive health strategies, xenotransplantation, SARS, bioethics (stem cells, cloning), autism, several international health initiatives involving Afghanistan, Iraq, and Hungary, health care reform issues, and was the inspiration behind, as well as developed the nation’s Medical Reserve Corps.

Dr. Zucker initiated and spearheaded a major public health / health literacy project for women in Afghanistan which he presented at the United Nations and on Voice of America. This interactive talking Afghan Family Health Book has improved the lives of millions of families in Afghanistan. He is board certified in multiple specialties / subspecialties, completed the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative Executive Education program at the Kennedy School of Government / Harvard School of Public Health and is a “Next Generation Fellow” - Columbia University; a non-partisan program founded by President Eisenhower to address issues of global public policy.

Dr. Zucker is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Council for Emerging National Security Affairs, was a public health "hi-level expert" for NATO, is listed in Best Doctors in America and Who's Who in the World, and was an ABC World News Tonight’s “Person of the Week.” While at WHO, he chaired the International Medical Products Anti-counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), addressed the issues of intellectual property and access to medicines, developed global strategies to use simple technologies to improve public health, and oversaw issues of blood safety, traditional medicines, and prequalification of pharmaceuticals for the developing world.