Gates Foundation Taps Novartis Executive
Friday, September 16, 2011
A senior executive at the pharmaceutical company Novartis AG will join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as president of the philanthropy’s global health group, a position that can influence the health of millions of people worldwide.
On Tuesday, the foundation said that Dr. Trevor Mundel, 51, will join the foundation in December as head of the group, which funds methods to combat infectious diseases including HIV-AIDS, malaria, polio and tuberculosis.
Dr. Mundel will leave his position as global head of development at Novartis, where he has worked since 2003 in a variety of roles. At the Gates Foundation, Dr. Mundel fills the seat emptied by Dr. Tachi Yamada, who left the foundation in June after five years as president of the global health program.
