Gail H. Cassell, Ph.D.
Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar, Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly and Company

Dr. Gail H. Cassell is currently Vice President, Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the former Vice President of Infectious Diseases Drug Discovery and Clinical Development of Eli Lilly and the former Charles H. McCauley Professor and Chairman of the Department of Microbiology at the University of Alabama Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at Birmingham, a department which ranked first in research funding from the National Institutes of Health during the decade of her leadership. She obtained her B.S. from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and in 1993 was selected by that institution as one of the top 31 female graduates of the 20th century. She obtained her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and was selected as its 2003 Distinguished Alumnus.

She is a past President of the American Society for Microbiology (the oldest and single largest life sciences organization with a membership of over 42,000). She was a member of the National Institutes of Health Director's Advisory Committee and a member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of NIH. She was named to the original Board of Scientific Councilors of the Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and served as Chair of the Board. She has served on the Advisory Board of the Director of the Centers for Disease Control, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Advisory Council of Public Health Preparedness, the FDA Science Board: Advisory to the Commissioner. Currently she is a member of the NIH Science Management Board, the newly appointed "NIH board of Trustees" which reports to Congress and the Advisory Council of the Fogarty International Center of NIH. Since 1996 she has been a member of the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program responsible for advising the respective governments on joint research agendas, (U.S. State Department/Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs). She has served on several editorial boards of scientific journals and has authored over 250 articles and book chapters. Dr. Cassell has received national and international awards and an honorary degree for her research in infectious diseases, including the CDC Honor Award in Public Health for exceptional leadership and contributions in the development and implementation of CDC's Emerging Infectious Disease Plan 1997 and a Citation from the FDA Commissioner for her role as Chair of the review of science and technology at the FDA and the Report FDA: Science and Mission at Risk 2008 and the Emmy Klineberger-Nobel Award in 2008 for outstanding and sustained research contributions to the field of mycoplasmology. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences and is currently serving a second 3-year term on the IOM Council, the governing board.

Dr. Cassell has been intimately involved in establishment of science policy and legislation related to biomedical research and public health. For nine years she was chairman of the Public and Scientific Affairs Board of the American Society for Microbiology; has served as an advisor on infectious diseases and indirect costs of research to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and has been an invited participant in numerous Congressional hearings and briefings related to infectious diseases, anti-microbial resistance, and biomedical research. She has served two terms on the LCME, the accrediting body for U.S. medical schools as well as other national committees involved in establishing policies in training in the biomedical sciences. She is an Emeritus Member of the Board of Research!America and a former member and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. She has just completed a term on the Leadership Council of the School of Public Health of Harvard University. Currently she is a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Visitors of Columbia University School of Medicine, the Advisory Council of the School of Nursing of Johns Hopkins, and the Advisory Council of the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health.