Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Announces Public Health Pioneer, Yasuhiro Suzuki Md, Phd To Join Board Of Directors
CONTACT: Susan Oliver, soliver@DavosAlzheimersCollaborative.org, 703-216-4078
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (MARCH 29, 2023) – The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC), the organization leading an unprecedented response to the Alzheimer’s pandemic, today announced the appointment of Prof. Yasuhiro Suzuki M.D., Ph.D., former Japanese Vice-Minister for Health, Labour, and Welfare (MHLW) to the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Board of Directors. Prof. Suzuki’s addition reinforces DAC’s role as convener of policymakers, global health ministers, the private sector, NGOs, and others devoted to ending Alzheimer’s disease everywhere.
Prof. Suzuki is a highly regarded neurologist who advanced significant public health initiatives as the founding Chief Medical and Global Health Officer at MHLW and in his tenure as Vice-minister. Prof. Suzuki also served as Executive Director for Social Change & Mental Health and later for Health Technology and Pharmaceuticals of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“The timing is right for Prof. Suzuki’s leadership and proven expertise to enhance DAC’s work driving a focus on healthy aging through public health policy.” Says George Vradenburg, Founding Chairman of the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative. “We know Prof. Suzuki will increase opportunities for collaboration with global health ministers and international organizations advancing the fight against Alzheimer’s.”
In a more than 40-year professional career, Prof. Suzuki led opportunities to leverage public health to address age-related chronic conditions and pushed forward research in public health. Prof. Suzuki has long-standing experience tackling challenges to mental health, international health, aging and health, and health research policy.
Japan is an established global leader in Alzheimer’s and renowned for scientific discoveries and care delivery for one of the oldest populations in the world. By adding an individual with Prof. Suzuki’s experience to the DAC Board of Directors, the organization is signaling its commitment to working to transform health systems globally with scalable and innovative solutions.
“I am thrilled to join the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative Board at this critical time when we must drive focus around the world for all nations to prioritize healthy aging,” said Prof. Yasuhiro Suzuki, “DAC is a critical mechanism to lead this public-private-patient focused effort around the world.”
Prof. Suzuki currently serves as the President of the International University of Health and Welfare (IUHW). This school with five campuses marks the first specialized public health and health professional university in Japan where future world health leaders study medicine, nursing, pharmacy, rehabilitative sciences, health service administration, evidence-based approaches to public health, health promotion, social behavioral sciences and more.
Prof. Suzuki graduated from Keio University School of Medicine in 1984 with his Doctor of medicine. He also received a PhD for public health from Keio University in 1986 and obtained two Masters degrees from Harvard University Graduate School of Public Health. The first, a Masters of Public Health in 1989 and the second a Masters of Science in 1990.
About the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative
Launched at the World Economic Forum’s 2021 meeting on The Davos Agenda, The Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative is a multi-stakeholder partnership committed to aligning stakeholders with a new vision for our collective global response against the challenges Alzheimer’s presents to patients, caregivers and healthcare infrastructures. Convened by The World Economic Forum and The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease (CEOi) and fueled by a mission of service to the estimated 150 million families and half a billion people inevitably impacted by this disease by 2050, DAC is a collaborative for the benefit of all people, in all places.