Frank O. Richards
Past Core Course:
- Guinea Worm Eradication
Frank O. Richards, MD, is director of the River Blindness Elimination Program, Lymphatic Filariasis Elimination Program, and Schistosomiasis Control Program at The Carter Center. He is an expert in parasitic and tropical diseases who has worked extensively in Latin America and Africa. The health programs he directs at the center have helped to provide more than 185 million treatments for parasitic disease in 11 countries over the last 15 years. The malaria program has helped provide over 10 million insecticide-treated bed nets.
He previously worked at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where he spent more than 20 years in a career focused on parasitic disease control and eradication. While at CDC, he reached the rank of captain in the Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service. Dr Richards’ particular expertise is in fighting onchocerciasis (river blindness)) through the delivery of Mectizan® tablets (donated by Merck & Co.) via mass drug administration programs. He has been involved in the Guatemalan river blindness program since 1987 and in the Nigerian river blindness program since 1992. He participated in the launching and operations of two major regional river blindness programs: the Onchocerciasis Elimination Program for the Americas (launched in 1992), which reaches six countries in the Americas, and the African Program for Onchocerciasis Control (launched in 1996), reaching 18 countries in Africa.
He has been honored with the Williams College Bicentennial Medal, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Award for Distinguished Service, and the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene’s Bailey K. Ashford Medal. Dr Richards has authored or co-authored more than 150 articles, letters, and chapters. He holds faculty appointments at the Emory Rollins School of Public Health, and the Emory School of Medicine, and is affiliated with Children’s Health Care of Atlanta.
He earned a bachelor’s degree at Williams College and a Medical degree at Cornell University. He completed a medical residency in Pediatrics at the University of Southern California and a clinical fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Emory University.