Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA

Director, ICAP

Dr. Wafaa El-Sadr is the founder and director of ICAP and an international expert in epidemiology and research on the prevention and management of HIV, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. For over three decades, she has advocated for families and communities most impacted by HIV and championed a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to confronting the global epidemic.

Based at Columbia University, she leads ICAP’s portfolio of projects in 24 countries and manages a global team of over 1,000 staff. Under her leadership, ICAP has become a global leader in HIV and health systems strengthening. She is also the director of the Mailman School’s Global Health Initiative (GHI), which mobilizes the University community to address critical challenges in global health.

Dr. El-Sadr is the principal investigator for numerous ICAP-led research initiatives and of the NIH-funded HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN). Dr. El-Sadr is also a member of the NIH Fogarty International Center Advisory Board, and in 2009, was appointed to the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. El-Sadr joined the faculty of Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in 1988 and become a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Mailman School of Public Health. In 2013, she was appointed University Professor, Columbia’s highest academic honor. She also holds the Dr. Mathilde Krim-amfAR Chair in Global Health.