Expert Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC)

MMV’s Expert Scientific Advisory Committee (ESAC) helps to identify the best projects worthy of inclusion in the portfolio and continues to monitor progress through an annual review of all projects. This committee consists of experts from both industry and academia and covers the full range of expertise required to assess projects that are engaging in the extremely complex process of drug research and development.

ESAC Members

Dr Salim Abdullah Director, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania

Dr Simon Campbell Chemist, former Senior Vice President, Worldwide Discovery and Medicinal R&D, Europe, Pfizer; (founding Chairman of ESAC from 1999–2003)

Prof Kelly Chibale Founder and Director, University of Cape Town, Drug Discovery and Development Centre (H3-D), South Africa

Dr Robert Clay Vice President Regulatory Affairs, Oncology and Infection, Astra Zeneca, UK

Prof Simon Croft Professor of Parasitology and Head of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, LSHTM, UK

Dr Umberto D'Alessandro Theme Leader Disease Control and Elimination, Medical Research Council, The Gambia

Prof Ogobara Doumbo Director, Malaria Research and Training Center, Bamako, Mali

Dr R. Kip Guy Department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, CA, USA

Dr Kasturi Haldar Professor, Julius Nieuwland Chair of Biological Sciences, Director, Center for Rare and Neglected Diseases, University of Notre Dame, USA

Dr Tran Tinh Hien Deputy Director, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Dr Trevor Laird Managing Director/Owner, Scientific Update, UK

Dr Michael Makanga Director South-South Cooperation and Head of Africa Office, European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, South Africa     

Dr Christine Manyando, Head of Public Health Department, Tropical Diseases Research Centre, Ndola, Zambia      

Dr David McGibney Pharmaceutical Research and Development Expert; Consultant Pharmaceutical Physician; and Co-Chairman MMV ESAC (Development)

Dr George K Mooney KGM Pharma Consulting LLC, USA

Prof François Nosten MD; Director, Shoklo Malaria Research Unit; and part of the Wellcome Trust–Mahidol–Oxford University Tropical Medicine Research Programme, Thailand

Dr Bernhards Ogutu Researcher, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya

Dr Paul Reider, Pharmaceutical Specialist and Lecturer, Department of Chemistry, Princeton Universtiy, NJ, USA          

Dr David Roberts Independent Scientific Consultant, Congleton, UK

Dr Dennis Schmatz former Vice President, Head of Tsukuba Research Institute, Merck-Banyu Research Laboratories, Japan; and Co-Chairman MMV ESAC (Discovery)

Dr Peter Siegl Director, Siegl Pharma Consulting LLC, PA, USA

Dr Per Sjoberg Partner, Eureda, Sweden

Prof Dennis Smith former Vice President, PGRD, Pfizer, Kent, UK

Prof Terrie Taylor MD and Distinguished Professor, University of Michigan, MI, USA

Dr Neena Valecha MD and Senior Deputy Director, National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, India

Prof Steve Ward Walter Myers Professor of Parasitology, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK

Dr Thomas Wellems Chief, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research (LMVR), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA

Dr Mike Witty Chairman, Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines, UK

Dr Matthew Wyvratt Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery, Motif BioSciences, Inc., New York, USA