Speaker Biographies

September 12, 2005

Amir Attaran is an associate professor of law and population health and the holder of a prestigious Canada Research Chair at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is also an associate fellow with Britain’s Royal Institute of International Affairs. His current research interests focus on the financial and legal duties of international aid donors; evaluation of policy development in the UN’s technical agencies and the role of intellectual property and trade law on access to medicines in less developed countries. Mr. Attaran has been published in scholarly journals such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, The Yale Journal of International Law, and also the New York Times. Previously, Mr. Attaran was an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard University, publishing research as part of the Center for International Development and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has also advised and collaborated with numerous NGOs, UN agencies, governments, and corporations on aspects of international development, primarily in the area of public health.

Richard Tren is co-founder and director of Africa Fighting Malaria, a health advocacy group based in the United States and South Africa. His research focuses on the political economy of malaria control; the benefits of private ownership of water in South Africa; deregulation of agriculture; and health and development policy. He co-authored (along with fellow panellist Roger Bate) Malaria and the DDT Story (Institute of Economic Affairs, 2001), which was published in South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and India. Mr. Tren has completed research projects for, among others, the South African Government, and written frequently for Business Day (South Africa), the Wall Street Journal Europe, and the Business Standard (India).

Katy French is the staff director for the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information and International Security, chaired by Senator Tom Coburn, MD, of Oklahoma, and dedicated to the oversight of federal spending and reduction of waste, fraud, and abuse. Before joining Chairman Coburn in May of this year, Ms. French was senior policy advisor for Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kans.), advising the senator on global and domestic health, foreign assistance, disability, and labor issues. Ms. French joined Sen. Brownback’s staff after serving three years on the professional staff for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, the committee which sets the Senate’s public health legislative agenda. She advised Chairman Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), on public health issues, including biodefense, HIV/AIDS, cancer and women’s health. Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, she worked as a consultant and completed research projects for Caliber Associates, Whitman-Walker Clinic and Georgetown University School of Medicine (Department of Family Medicine).

Marian L. Tupy is assistant director of the Project on Global Economic Liberty at the Cato Institute. His research examines the political economy of Europe and sub-Saharan Africa states. He is a recipient of the South African Institute of International Affairs’ Jan Smuts prize. Mr. Tupy has appeared on PBS's News Hour with Jim Lehrer, CNN International, BBC World, and Voice of America. His articles have been published in Financial Times, Wall Street Journal Europe, Washington Times, Investors' Business Daily, and National Review Online, as well as in various newspapers and magazines in Europe, Africa, and South America.

Roger Bate is a resident fellow at AEI. He researches aid policy in Africa and the developing world, evaluating the performance and effectiveness of USAID, the World Bank, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, NGOs, as well as other aid organizations and development policy initiatives. He writes extensively on topics such as health policy and endemic diseases in developing countries (malaria, HIV/AIDS); water policy; international environmental and health agreements (industrial chemicals, climate change, and water); and genetically modified organisms and pesticide policy. Mr. Bate’s writings have appeared in, among others, the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Economic Affairs, and he regularly contributes to AEI's Environmental Policy Outlook series. Before joining AEI, Mr. Bate founded the Environmental Unit at the Institute of Economic Affairs in 1993 and co-founded the European Science and Environment Forum (1995–2001). He has also served as both a director and fellow at the International Policy Network in the United Kingdom.

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