Contact Details:
Elected Member - GAELF
Director, River Blindness Program, Lymphatic Filariasis Program, Schistosomiasis Control Program and Malaria Control Program
The Carter Center
453 Freedome Parkway
Atlanta 30307, USA
T: +1 404 420 3898
F: +1 404 420 3881
E: frich01@emory.edu
Frank Richards
Dr. Richards came to The Carter Center from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he spent more than 20 years in a career focused on parasitic disease control and eradication in the Americas and Africa. He has worked on schistosomiasis control in Egypt, Guinea worm eradication in Cameroon, lymphatic filariasis elimination in Haiti and Nigeria, and malaria control in Guatemala, Nigeria, and Ethiopia. Dr. Richards' particular expertise is in onchocerciasis (river blindness) and the delivery of Mectizan® tablets (donated by Merck & Co.) through mass drug administration programs. He has been involved in the Guatemalan Mectizan distribution program since 1987 and in the Nigerian Mectizan distribution program since 1992. He participated in the launching and operations of two major regional river blindness programs: The Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (launched in 1992), which reaches six countries in the Americas, and the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (launched in 1996) reaching 18 countries in Africa.
Dr. Richards' awards include the Williams College Bicentennial Medal in recognition of contributions to global public health, the Commissioned Corps Outstanding Service Medal for contributions to the battle against river blindness, the Department of Health and Human Services' Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service for the Guinea worm eradication effort, and the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's Bailey K. Ashford Medal. Dr. Richards has authored or coauthored more than 130 articles, letters, and chapters.
Dr. Richards earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Williams College in 1975 and his Doctor of Medicine degree from Cornell University in 1979. After completing a residency in pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, he joined the CDC and was assigned to the Division of Parasitic Diseases where he remained for his entire 22-year CDC career. During that time, he was assigned to the CDC Guatemala field station (1987-92), completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory (1993), and was seconded to The Carter Center (1996-2002). Dr. Richards reached the rank of captain in the Commissioned Corps.
Dr. Richards holds faculty appointments at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health (Department of Global Health), the Emory School of Medicine (Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease), and is on the medical staff at Children's Health Care of Atlanta (Egleston Hospital). In addition to English, he is conversant in Spanish and French.