WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Jon S. Abramson, M.D., chair and professor of the department of pediatrics at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, has been nominated to serve as the representative from the Americas to the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) of the World Health Organization (WHO), beginning in April 2009.
The SAGE was established by the director-general of the WHO in 1999 to provide guidance on the work of the WHO Immunization Department. SAGE continues to advise WHO on global policies and strategies, such as vaccine and technology, research and development and delivery of immunizations and their relationship with other health interventions. This includes all vaccine-preventable diseases.
Abramson currently serves as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Task Force on Immunizations and is chair of the AAP Task Force on Pediatric Devices. He is a member of the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs Executive Board and of the National Vaccine Advisory Group Finance Committee. He is the immediate past-chair of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the CDC and continues to serve as a consultant to both the CDC and FDA on issues related to vaccines and influenza seasonal and pandemic planning.
Abramson received his undergraduate degree at Boston University and his medical degree from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in pediatrics. He completed his fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota.
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Media contact: Lisa Davanzo, ldavanzo@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-6906; Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu or Shannon Koontz, shkoontz@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is an academic health system comprised of North Carolina Baptist Hospital and Wake Forest University Health Sciences, which operates the university’s School of Medicine. The system comprises 1,154 acute care, psychiatric, rehabilitation and long-term care beds and is consistently ranked as one of “America’s Best Hospitals” by U.S. News & World Report.