PDVI Personalities  Harold Margolis, MD Director
Harold S. Margolis, MD, is Deputy Director General of the IVI and was appointed Director of the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative in July 2004. Prior to joining IVI and becoming Director of the PDVI, Dr. Margolis was a senior public health scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for 29 years. He joined CDC in 1975 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer. In 1987, he became director of CDC’s viral hepatitis research and prevention program, which included being Director of a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research and Reference in Viral Hepatitis. Dr. Margolis led the development and implementation of CDC’s hepatitis B and hepatitis A immunization programs, and the national program to prevent and control hepatitis C. He was the architect of US immunization recommendations to eliminate hepatitis B virus transmission and of the WHO hepatitis B immunization program. Dr. Margolis was a frequent advisor to WHO and other international health agencies on introduction of hepatitis B vaccine into national immunization programs. His other international activities included assisting countries to establish programs in viral hepatitis research, prevention and control. During 2001-2002 he was CDC’s Senior Advisor for Smallpox Preparedness and Response. Dr. Margolis is a pediatrician, a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). At the AAP, he was a member of the Committee on Native American Child Health and the Executive Committee of the Section on Community Pediatrics. His research and public health interests have focused on evaluation and introduction of new vaccines, molecular epidemiology of hepatitis viruses, and development of evidence-based public health policy. He is the author or co-author of 190 peer reviewed publications.