The New Counselors

The new counselors also have had long and distinguished careers in travel medicine.

Peter Leggat, MD, PhD, hails from Queensland, Australia. He did postgraduate studies at universities in four countries and in several disciplines including public health, occupational health (PhD), aerospace medicine, travel medicine, aeromedical evacuation, and medical education. He joined James Cook University (Australia) in 1992 and is currently associate professor in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Presently he holds a Fulbright Scholarship for academic exchange at several institutions in the USA, including the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in Oklahoma City, is visiting professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa (in public health), and is visiting professor at the Prince of Songkla University, Thailand. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Australian Defense Health Service Reserve. He has served in executive positions in many international and Australian organizations including the World Safety Organization (director-general) and the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine (president). He is the recipient of more than 20 major national and international awards.

Peter’s research in travel medicine has focused on general practice, travel insurance claims, emergency assistance, and clinical trials of antimalarial agents. He is a reviewer and a member of editorial boards for numerous prestigious journals, has contributed more than 300 papers to professional journals and national and international conferences, written chapters for many textbooks, and given innumerous lectures.

Peter has served on several ISTM committees and sub-committees, including the editorial board of the Journal of Travel Medicine. He is keen to promote and support worthwhile regional and global initiatives in travel medicine, while continuing to contribute to his present ISTM activities.

Kevin Kain MD, FRCPC, is the director of the Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine at the Toronto General Hospital, is professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, and holds a Canada Research Chair in Molecular Parasitology. He has had post-doctoral research training as a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Immunology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington DC. Kevin has worked extensively in the tropics and sub-tropics, including New Guinea, Madagascar, Uganda, Laos, Thailand, and the Amazon basin. He has served as chairperson to Health Canada’s Committee to Advise on Tropical Medicine and Travel and to the Scientific Advisory Board of the Malaria Foundation, been a board member of the Programme for Appropriate Technology, and been a consultant to many organizations including the Red Cross, Canadian Blood Services, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kevin’s research efforts are focused on developing a translational research program that characterizes host-parasite interactions responsible for major global health threats such as malaria and HIV. One of his primary goals has been to attempt to elucidate the molecular basis for adverse outcomes in malaria and to translate this knowledge into novel therapeutic interventions.

His specific interests in travel medicine and his efforts within ISTM include the development of molecular, diagnostic, and epidemiologic tools for the surveillance of emerging diseases, especially those that threaten travelers. His efforts are also focused on global equity, knowledge sharing and education. He places great importance in the transfer of appropriate technologies and the training of research scientists in the developing world, enabling and empowering them to address their own problems in a sustainable fashion. Kevin is the author or co-author of numerous articles and chapters in major textbooks.

Eli Schwartz, MD, DTMH, is the Director of the Center for Geographic Medicine at Sheba Medical Center in Tel-Hashomer, Israel. He is the current president of the Israeli Society of Parasitology and Tropical Diseases and is a senior lecturer in the internal medicine division of Tel-Aviv University. He has worked extensively in developing countries including Cambodia Refugee camps (1980), CIWEC Clinic, Nepal (1987-88), and Ethiopia (1991 and 1999). As director of the Israeli malaria team, he has served as a consultant for the governments of Zanzibar (1994), for the United Nations peace keeping troops in Angola (1997), and in Senegal (2001). He is a graduate of the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. His research interests have led to more than 70 publications in the medical literature. He has a deep commitment to education and expanding public awareness in the field of travel medicine.

Eli has been involved in tropical and travel medicine for more than twenty years and has been an active member of ISTM since its founding. Within ISTM he has served on several scientific committees of biennial conferences, the editorial board of the Journal of Travel Medicine, and currently is the chair of the Professional Education and Training Committee. As chair he hopes to help members by furthering the development of educational resources. One of his goals is to organize ISTM-sponsored training centers to give members hands-on experience in practicing pre-travel, post-travel and migrant medicine. He is also the site director for GeoSentinel. He has been active at European and Asian travel society meetings. In October 2002, he chaired the scientific committee of the Asian-Pacific Travel Health conference in Shanghai.