A report from GHTC and Policy Cures Research examines how US federal funding for global health R&D is delivering impact both abroad and at home.

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Karen A. Goraleski, MA

CEO

Karen A. Goraleski

Karen Goraleski is the CEO of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. ASTMH, located in Arlington, Virginia and founded in 1903, is the largest international scientific organization of experts dedicated to reducing the worldwide burden of tropical infectious diseases and improving global health. The Society accomplishes this through generating and sharing scientific evidence, informing health policies and practices, fostering career development, recognizing excellence, and advocating for investment in tropical medicine/global health research.

Goraleski oversees all aspects of the Society’s efforts that include the Annual Meeting that attracts a global audience and is widely considered the premier meeting in tropical medicine, the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the CTropMed®- Certificate of Knowledge in Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers' Health, and a portfolio of activities that includes awards and research opportunities, policy development, advocacy, communications, and membership.  

Goraleski has testified before Senate Appropriation Sub-Committees making the case for strong tropical medicine research funding and is a frequent moderator of Hill briefings on a range of science policy issues. She’s authored letters to the editor published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. She currently serves on the Advisory Board of the NIH’s Fogarty International Center and the Steering Committee of the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC).  Previously, she served on the boards of the Global Health Council and the Campaign for Public Health. 

Prior to joining ASTMH in 2010, Goraleski was Vice President of Public Health Partnerships at Research!America, an advocacy alliance located in Arlington, Virginia that works to make research to improve health a much higher national priority. She expanded the organization’s national public health research advocacy efforts and established its first global health research advocacy program that included the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, named for the late Congressman.  

An experienced presenter, knowledgeable in the translation of complex issues for decision makers, media and public, Goraleski has led national and local workshops for the science community that focus on innovative advocacy using strategies designed to help non-science audiences better understand the value and importance of a strong U.S. investment in research. 

Earlier positions included executive roles at the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, both in Chicago. She received a Master of Social Work from the Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago and a Bachelor of Arts, St. Xavier University in Chicago. 

Blog posts written by Karen

Total of 1 blog post

ASTMH
April 10, 2013

The Rally for Medical Research: Protecting investments in tropical medicine and global health science

In this guest post, Karen A. Goraleski, executive director of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, writes about the importance of US funding for global health research. This is the third post in a series about this week’s Rally for Medical Research.

Written by Karen A. Goraleski / American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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In this guest post, Karen A. Goraleski, executive director of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, writes about the importance of US funding for global health research. This is the third post in a series about this week’s Rally for Medical Research. On April 8 in Washington, DC, thousands of researchers, patients, and advocates participated in The Rally for Medical Research, organized by the American Association for Cancer Research and joined by more than 200 partnering organizations—including the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The rally communicated the research community’s message to policymakers that sequestration and other cuts are simply wrong. ASTMH members join the thousands of researchers, patients, and advocates who participated in The Rally for Medical Research. Credit: ASTMH. While many of the speakers, including journalist Cokie Roberts, spoke of cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and HIV, we also know that millions of people in the world—far too many—are in desperate need of lifesaving treatments and vaccines for treatable and preventable infections and diseases, especially those that afflict the global poor. Additional cuts (on top of what has been cut over recent years) to threatened tropical medicine and global health research and development programs at the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Agency for International Development, and Department of Defense will send us into an expensive back-slide of money and lives—delaying new vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics from reaching those who need them most. Let’s put things in perspective: tropical medicine and global health represent just a small portion of the US budget, but are making a BIG difference at home and abroad. Isn’t this the return-on-investment that we all clamor for? The US efforts on global health have saved millions of lives, affording families a fighting chance to build more productive lives. Investments in tropical medicine and global health contribute to our nation’s security by protecting US borders from emerging infectious diseases and reducing poverty in the developing world, which in turn creates stable countries that provide economic and security benefits for the US. Research IS the game-changer that Washington so often talks about. As a community, let’s tell this message to our elected officials loud and often until they finally hear us.