The AIDS Pandemic

which undertakes research on HIV prevention in vulnerable and underserved populations in this country and abroad. He also led a number of training programs that strengthened the capacity of scientists in Russia, China, India and South Africa to undertake HIV/AIDS prevention research. 
Dr. Merson has authored more than 175 articles, primarily in the area of disease prevention. His most recent contributions concern HIV policy and prevention in developing countries and broader global health issues. He is the senior editor of Global Health: Disease, Programs, Systems, and Policies, which is a leading global health textbook in the United States. 
He has served in advisory capacities for UNAIDS, WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, World Bank, Doris Duke Foundation, World Economic Forum, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and on several NIH review panels and advisory committees. He is a member of the Commission for Smart Global Health Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dr. Merson has received two Commendation Medals from the U.S. Public Health Service, the Arthur S. Flemming Award for distinguished government service, the Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal and two honorary degrees and is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in the National Academy of Sciences.

Stephen Inrig, PhD, MSCS, is an Associate Professor at Mount Saint Mary's University in Los Angeles, where he serves as director of the graduate program in Healthcare Policy and Management and director of interdisciplinary healthcare research. Professor Inrig teaches and conducts research on the social determinants of health and the influence of health policies on vulnerable populations in the United States and around the world. A professionally-trained health outcomes researcher and historian, Dr. Inrig's peer-reviewed research has explored the role of local, state, federal, and global policy on people at risk for HIV, cancer, and mental illness. He also helps lead or has been involved in running programs addressing Breast Cancer, prisoner reentry, cross-border health issues, and at-risk youth.  His present research includes improving cancer screening and treatment outcomes for low-income and uninsured patients, ensuring the continuity of care for former prisoners reentering society, enhancing mental health care for traumatized refugees and asylum-seekers in the United States, and strategies for improving drug discovery and distribution for diseases with high international burdens.  Dr. Inrig is the author North Carolina and the Problem of AIDS: Advocacy, Politics, & Race in the South (UNC Press), along with several peer reviewed articles and popular articles.  His work has appeared in the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Philadelphia Inquirer, ABC-TV Dallas (WFAA), and National Public Radio, and CBS national radio.  Inrig received his PhD from Duke University in the History of Medicine (Health Policy); his MS in Clinical Sciences (Health Systems Research) from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical School's Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences; and his BA in History from the University of North Texas.