Global Fund Appoints Michael Borowitz as Head of Strategic Investment & Partnerships
12 March 2013
GENEVA - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has named Michael Borowitz as Head of the Strategic Investment and Partnerships Department, where he will supervise portfolio optimization and technical cooperation.
Dr Borowitz will also serve as the Global Fund's Chief Economist, overseeing broad efforts to implement a value-for-money perspective as the Global Fund moves forward with a new funding model.
"Michael's insight and perspective on global health are unsurpassed," said Mark Dybul, Executive Director of the Global Fund. "His considerable skill and experience will help us accelerate our efforts to succeed in preventing and treating these infectious diseases."
Osamu Kunii, the Global Fund's Head of Strategy, Impact and Investment added: "Michael's deep knowledge and talent make him a tremendous addition to our team. We are extremely happy to have him aboard."
Dr Borowitz already has a distinguished career with more than 30 years of experience in global health and development. In addition to his extensive work on AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, Dr Borowitz is well-known as an expert in health financing and health systems.
After working on U.S. health care reform in the late 1980s, Dr Borowitz played a major role in health system strengthening in the former Soviet Union, and in the development of new strategies for the UK's National Health Service to cope with the aging population and chronic diseases. More recently, he worked on helping OECD countries face future financial implications of universal access with rapid technological progress and rising consumer expectations.
Dr Borowitz is most interested in the intersection between health, human rights, and economics. He has long experience in development, working at the UK's Department for International Development, the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank and the Soros Foundation. In one of those positions, he ran a highly successful USAID health reform project in Central Asia, while based in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for five years.
Dr Borowitz has pioneered approaches to addressing concentrated epidemics of HIV and AIDS among marginalised populations. In one, Dr Borowitz started a partnership between the Russian police and Scotland Yard to liberalize police attitudes to harm reduction and to revise Russian legislation on the legality of needle and syringe exchange programs. In another, he did pivotal work improving access to effective anti-malarials in Africa through the public and private sectors.
Dr Borowitz holds a doctorate in Health Economics and a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago. He also has an MD and a Masters of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane University.