Eric Ottesen, MD

Eric Ottesen is the Director of the NTD Support Center at The Task Force for Global Health and serves as Chief Technical Advisor for the ENVISION project at RTI International. He received his A.B. from Princeton University in 1965, his M.D. from Harvard University in 1970, and is board certified in pediatrics. Formerly head of the Clinical Parasitology Section of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases NIH (1975-1994), he was the Project Leader in establishing the Global Programmeto Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis at the World Health Organization (1995-2001). Eric's research interests have focused principally on host responsiveness to parasitic helminth infections (primarily filariasis, onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis), on the relationship between allergic and parasitic diseases, and on the challenges of implementing global health programs based on mass drug administration.