Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, WA

Peter M. Small’s research career has focused on the nature and consequences of genetic variability within the species M. tuberculosis. Originally, this was focused on exploiting genetic variability to track the spread of tuberculosis in populations but more recently shifted to more fundamental questions about mycobacterial ecology and evolution.

Since 2002 Peter Small has served as the Team Leader for Tuberculosis at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In this capacity he has been responsible for developing the foundation’s tuberculosis strategy, building the programs core partnerships, hiring and managing the team and serving as the foundation’s voice for tuberculosis.

Dr. Small received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University (1981) and his medical degree from the University of Florida (1985). He completed his post graduate training in internal medicine at UCSF (where he served as Chief Medical Resident under Merle Sande) and infectious diseases in the lab of GarySchoolnik at Stanford University. Immediately prior to joining the Gates Foundation in September of 2002, he served on the faculty of Stanford’s Division of Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine where he was actively involved in research, teaching and patient care. In addition to his work at the Gates Foundation, until 2008, he was a Professor at the Institute of Systems Biology in Seattle.

Dr. Small is a global expert in several aspects of TB epidemiology, biology and control. He has published more than 150 articles and chapters including landmark studies in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Science, and Nature that helped to shape the public health response to the resurgence of tuberculosis in the 1990’s. Much of this involved collaborative efforts with basic scientists, public health officials and clinicians to use of molecular epidemiologic techniques to address pragmatic questions about the control of tuberculosis. This work included population based field research projects in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Europe. In 2002, he was awarded the prestigious Princess Chichibu Global Tuberculosis Award for his pioneering contributions to global tuberculosis control.

He served as a member of the Institute of Medicine’s committee addressing the elimination of tuberculosis in the United States, the Boad of Directors of several public private partnerships and as a member of the WHO Stop TB Coordinating Board.