Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Presidential Science Envoy Dr. Elias Zerhouni Visits UNESCO


On February 10, Dr. Elias Zerhouni met with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova and key UNESCO ambassadors and secretariat staff. In his meetings, he outlined the Obama Administration's plans to develop scientific centers of excellence in the Muslim world, to use modern technologies to create economic and social opportunities, and to foster enterprise within individual countries on a local level.
"We must promote the idea of impactful science and technology initiatives that lead to entrepreneurship and to wealth creation."
Dr. Elias Zerhouni is on a ten-day trip to France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait in his role as Presidential Science Envoy. Dr. Zdfhouni is a distinguished radiologist who has published extensively on medical imaging. He served as Director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health from 2002 to 2008, after which service he returned to Johns Hopkins University, his long time academic home.

Dr. Zerhouni now serves on the boards of the Lasker Foundation, Research America, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and the Mayo Clinic Foundation. He also serves as an external chief advisor for global science and technology for Sanofi-Aventis and was named chair of the Maryland Economic Development Commission in April 2009. He was elected a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2000.

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