Dr. Alejandro Cravioto is currently a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City. Dr. Cravioto served as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine from 1995 to 2003 and as Executive Director of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (icddr,b) in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 2005 to 2012. From 2012 to 2014 he severed as Chief Scientific Officer of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Dr. Cravioto received his Medical Degree with honors from the Faculty of Medicine of UNAM. He specialized in Pediatrics at the National Institute of Pediatrics in Mexico City, followed by training at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine of the University of London, where he received a Diploma in Tropical Public Health and a Ph.D. His main interests in research have been the study of the interaction between infection and growth in young infants, as well as the pathogenic capacity of bacteria able to cause disease in humans. His laboratory and field study areas have been the training ground for over 150 persons with different academic backgrounds. His pioneer work on the pathogenesis of enteric pathogens has formed the bases for the development of vaccines against Enterotoxigenic and Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Dr. Cravioto is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Pediatrics in Mexico and has been appointed honorary professor at the University Ricardo Palma in Peru and Cape Town University in South Africa. He served as the Chair of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization of the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2015 to 2022 and is currently a member of the advisory group for the Gavi Vaccine Investment Strategy 2024 and of the Product Development for Vaccines Advisory Committee (PDVAC) in WHO. Dr. Cravioto has been recently invited to join the Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Diseases Preventable by Vaccination of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) for the next three years.
