Dave Ross

Biography

Dave Ross, ScD, is president and chief executive officer of The Task Force for Global Health, a U.S.-based nongovernmental organization that works to eliminate, prevent, and protect populations against diseases and other health threats.
Dr. Ross provides strategic direction to The Task Force and its 13 programs focused on field epidemiology, pandemic preparedness, neglected tropical diseases, public health informatics, health workforce development, hepatitis elimination, and medical surplus recovery.
Dr. Ross is a thought leader and one of the pioneers of public health informatics, a discipline that focuses on using information to improve health outcomes. He founded the Public Health Informatics Institute (PHII) at The Task Force and served as its director for 16 years before.
Under Dr. Ross’ leadership as CEO, The Task Force has launched new collaborative initiatives in leprosy elimination and health workforce development. Most recently, The Task Force worked with stakeholders to articulate a new vision for ensuring all countries have adequate field epidemiology capacity. The Task Force is also looking to scale up human resource information systems across Africa following a model implemented in Kenya that has transformed the management of the country’s healthcare workforce.

Dr. Ross has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and frequently serves on national panels focused on public health informatics.
Dr. Ross holds a doctor of science degree in operations research from The Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado.
In 2016, The Task Force was awarded the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize – the world’s largest award of its kind – for extraordinary contributions toward alleviating human suffering.