Mark R. Dybul

Ambassador Mark R. Dybul (born 1963) served as the United States Global AIDS Coordinator, leading the implementation of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during the presidency of George W. Bush.[1]

Biography

Dybul received his A.B. (1985) and M.D. (1992) from Georgetown University and completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals (1995) and a fellowship in infectious diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (1998).[2] Before his political career began, Dybul worked with AIDS patients in San Francisco.[1] He is also a registered Independent.[1]

Dybul is openly gay.[1][3] Dybul is recognized as a leader in making PEPFAR a reality, and under his tenure PEPFAR budgets quadrupled. The impact of PEPFAR on the select countries receiving funding is often cited as one of the Bush Administration's most lasting successes.

Dybul was initially asked to stay on into the Barack Obama administration by the transition team.[1] However, one day after the inauguration, amid criticism by senior advisors to the President and a number of reproductive rights and AIDS activism groups over Dybul's involvement in steering funds to abstinence-only programs during the Bush Administration, Dybul received a call asking him to submit his resignation.[4]

The dismissal invited criticism from all parts of the American political spectrum.[1] Michael Gerson, one of three main speechwriters for and a senior political adviser to George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, called it "petty" and "malicious" in his Washington Post column.[5] The liberal editorial board of The San Francisco Chronicle labeled the move "unexpected, unceremonious and undeserved" and accused Obama of making Dybul a scapegoat of a policy that Dybul did not support.[6] International Herald Tribune stated that "Score it 1 for partisanship, 0 for public health".[7] Supporters of the move hope that Dybul's replacement will change priorities in the U.S. AIDS relief programs.[8]

Currently, Dybul is a distinguished scholar and serves as co-director at Georgetown's O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law.[9] He is also a member of Accordia Global Health Foundation's Board of Directors.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f After Departure, No Leader for U.S. AIDS Program. The New York Times. Published January 30, 2009.
  2. ^ Ambassador Mark R. Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator
  3. ^ Wright, Robin (16 April 2007), "At State, a Friendlier Workplace", Washington Post: A15, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/15/AR2007041500652.html 
  4. ^ Chibbaro Jr., Lou (January 23, 2009), "Obama dumps Dybul at AIDS office", Washington Blade, http://www.washingtonblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=23619 
  5. ^ Gerson, Michael (January 28, 2009), "Weasels vs. AIDS Relief", Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012702673.html?hpid=opinionsbox1 
  6. ^ A bad start on AIDS. The San Francisco Chronicle. Published January 30, 2009.
  7. ^ Too partisan on AIDS relief. International Herald Tribune. Published February 3, 2009.
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ Georgetown Global Forum Profile.
  10. ^ Accordia Global Health Foundation.