Derek Yach, M.B.Ch.B., B.Sc., M.P.H., D.Sc. (Hon.)
SVP, Global Health Policy
Purchase, NY 914-253-2156
derek.yach@pepsico.com
Credentials
- D.Sc. (Hon.), Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
- M.P.H., Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, MD
- B.Sc., Epidemiology, University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- M.B.Ch.B., University of Cape Town Medical School, Cape Town, South Africa
Fogarty International Center Advisory Board member Derek Yach is Senior Vice President of Global Health Policy at PepsiCo where he leads the internal Global Human Sustainability Task Force and engagement with major international policy, research and scientific groups. Previously he has headed global health at the Rockefeller Foundation, been Professor of Public Health and head of the Division of Global Health at Yale University, and is a former Executive Director of the World Health Organization (WHO). Dr. Yach has spearheaded several major efforts to improve global health. At the WHO he served as cabinet director under Director-General Gro Harlem Brundtland. Dr. Yach helped place tobacco control, nutrition and chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease prominently on the agenda of governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. He led development of WHO’s first treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and the development of the Global Strategy on Diet and Physical Activity. Dr. Yach is a South African national. He established the Centre for Epidemiological Research at the South African Medical Research Council which focused on quantifying inequalities and the impact of urbanization on health. He has authored or co-authored over 200 articles covering the breadth of global health issues. Dr Yach serves on several advisory boards including those of the Clinton Global Initiative, the World Economic Forum, the PAHEF Foundation, the Oxford Health Alliance and Vitality USA.