Dr Melvin Sanicas has been elected Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health. The Royal Society of Public Health is the longest established public health organization in the UK, and elected members are academics, health professionals and public health specialists who share an interest in promoting health worldwide. This prestigious award was made after a review of Melvin’s career and achievements as a vaccinologist, a clinical development physician, and a global health professional.

Dr Sanicas is currently a Global Health Fellow and Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As a Program Officer, Melvin manages a portfolio of over US$ 15M which includes research projects and capacity building grants in the US, South Africa, Uganda, and The Netherlands. Dr Sanicas is also the Program Manager of the Collaboration for TB Vaccine Discovery (CTVD), an international network of scientists and experts focused on accelerating the pace of TB vaccine discovery and development.

Dr Sanicas’ professional experience spans the globe – he started his career working at the national regulatory authority in Singapore and has been involved in different stages of drug and vaccine development in Europe and Asia-Pacific working with multinational vaccine companies, such as GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis.

Dr Sanicas holds a Bachelor’s degree, Major in Biology (cum laude), from the University of the Philippines Manila (2001) and an MD from the UP College of Medicine (2006). He finished postgraduate degrees in Health Economics from the University of Aberdeen, and Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management from the University of Leeds. He also holds a Postgraduate Diploma and Master’s degree (MSc) in Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and an Executive MSc (laurea specialistica) in Vaccinology and Clinical Development (cum laude) from the University of Siena in Italy. He is a member of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases as well as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

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Article sent by Dr. Arnold Hallare