ATLANTA – The Task Force for Global Health announced today that its Board of Directors has chosen Patrick O’Carroll, MD, MPH as the organization’s next President and Chief Executive Officer
. Dr. O’Carroll currently serves as The Task Force’s Head of Health Systems Strengthening.He will succeed David A. Ross, ScD, who announced in February that he would be retiring as president and CEO.
Dr. O’Carroll was selected after a global search by global leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds Associates. He will assume his new role as CEO on October 3, working closely with Dr. Ross to ensure a smooth transition.
“Dave Ross has greatly increased the impact of The Task Force during his tenure and fostered a unique, collaborative culture with strong global partnerships that positions the organization for continued growth and contributions to advance health equity,” said Board Chair Teri McClure, retired General Counsel and Chief Human Resources Officer at UPS.
“Patrick O’Carroll is perfectly poised to pick up the reins and build on that strong foundation. He has demonstrated great leadership, has a clear vision for the organization’s future, and has strong relationships both internally and externally that will continue to position The Task Force for success. We are thrilled that he will be leading The Task Force into its next chapter.”
Dr. O’Carroll will be the fourth CEO in The Task Force’s nearly 40-year history. During the six years that Dr. Ross served in that role, The Task Force doubled in revenue, with a FY22 budget of $106 million (excluding in-kind donations), doubled the number of employees (currently 200+), and grew from 10 programs to 17. The Task Force now works with partners in more than 150 countries.
Dr. O’Carroll joined The Task Force in 2016 to provide overall strategic and operational direction to the organization’s Health Systems Strengthening programs. He began his public health career in 1985 as a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, spending the next 18 years with CDC as an epidemiologist, informatician, and program director. For the next 13 years, he worked with the U.S. Health and Human Service Department’s (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, first as Regional Health Administrator for HHS Region X and later as Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health for Science and Medicine at HHS. Dr. O’Carroll has extensive experience working across most every public health domain, including public health systems development, global health and disease surveillance, emergency response, bioterrorism and epidemic control. He holds a medical degree and a Master in Public Health from The Johns Hopkins University.
“I am thrilled and honored to have been selected as the next leader of The Task Force. It is such an extraordinary organization, with its unwavering focus on measurably improving the health of people across the globe,” said Dr. O’Carroll. “The Task Force is dedicated to true collaboration and deeply committed to working in partnership with countries to reduce disease and strengthen country health systems. The programs at The Task Force are led and staffed by some of the finest and most dedicated public health professionals it has ever been my privilege to work with. As CEO, Dr. Ross actively fostered cross-program collaboration at The Task Force, combining different program skills and capacities to maximize our impact as an organization. I look forward to working with my Task Force colleagues to further develop such collaborations, while seeking new opportunities for The Task Force to address urgent and enormously complex challenges to health around the globe, such as climate change, refugee health, and antimicrobial resistance.”
“I’m very pleased that Dr. O’Carroll will assume overall leadership at The Task Force for Global Health,” said outgoing CEO Dr. Ross. “He has the breadth of vision coupled with technical expertise that assures our organization a bright future. He understands the critical role that collaborative leadership plays in our programs and how we manage our organization. The Task Force is a very special and unique organization deserving of this special and unique public health leader.”
About The Task Force for Global Health
The Task Force for Global Health, founded nearly 40 years ago to advance health equity, works with partners in more than 150 countries to eliminate diseases, ensure access to vaccines and essential medicines, and strengthen health systems to protect populations. Expertise includes neglected tropical diseases and other infectious diseases; vaccine safety, distribution and access; and health systems strengthening, including supply chains for essential medicines, public health informatics for data to inform programs and policies, and training and support for epidemiologists and laboratorians to prevent and respond to outbreaks. COVID-19 activities have included helping more than 30 low- and middle-income countries roll out vaccines; informing vaccine safety guidelines; training epidemiologists in more than 100 countries on disease surveillance and response; distributing essential protection and treatment to hard-hit communities; advising on digital contact tracing; using existing health programs to ensure protection for vulnerable groups, such as those afflicted with other diseases; and leveraging our existing supply chains for ongoing response. For more information, visit www.taskforce.org and our 2021 annual report.
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