David L. Heymann

David L. Heymann, MD (born 1946 in Pennsylvania, USA) was appointed the Assistant Director-General, Communicable Diseases of the World Health Organization (WHO) in February 2007. He is also the Director-General's Special Representative for Polio eradication.

Heymann previously served as the Executive Director of WHO's Communicable Diseases Cluster, Director of the WHO Program on Emerging and other Communicable Diseases, and as the chief of research activities in the Global Program on AIDS.

Education
Heymann received his Bachelor of Arts from Pennsylvania State University and later obtained an MD from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He also received a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Heymann did two years of practical epidemiology training with the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS). He served in India as part of the Smallpox Eradication Program, and directed WHO's response to the global outbreak of SARS.