Duncan Steele

Deputy Director and Strategic Lead: Enteric Vaccines

Enteric & Diarrheal Diseases

Global Health, Infectious Disease

Duncan Steele, PhD, is a microbiologist with extensive experience in virology and microbiology, especially for diarrhoeal diseases, and in clinical trials. His current responsibilities include strategic leadership and oversight of the portfolio of vaccines against the major enteric and diarrheal diseases (ie. rotavirus, cholera, enteric fever, enterotoxigenic E coli, and Shigella). Before starting at the foundation as a Senior Program Officer in October 2011, Duncan was a Senior Technical Advisor at PATH, where he worked across both Vaccine Access and Delivery (VAD) with the Rotavirus Vaccine Program and in Vaccine Development (VAC) with the Advancing Rotavirus Vaccines program and the Enteric Vaccines Initiative.

Previously, as a scientist at the Initiative for Vaccine Research, Department of Immunization, Vaccines and Biologicals, World Health Organization, Dr. Steele was responsible for the diarrheal disease vaccines portfolio. In this role, he developed and coordinated a global strategic agenda for vaccine research for the major diarrheal and enteric diseases including cholera, enterotoxigenic E coli, rotavirus, Shigella, and typhoid fever. In addition, he coordinated and facilitated vaccine clinical trials in Africa and Asia and established, coordinated, and facilitated regional surveillance networks in Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe in collaboration with the WHO Regional Offices, ministries of health, PATH, and CDC.

In a different life, Dr. Steele was the Director of the South African Medical Research Council Diarrhoeal Pathogens Research Unit at Medunsa, South Africa, where he developed a program of research activities with local and international collaboration and funding that expanded into other parts of Africa. He established a vaccine clinical trial site in the Madibeng District, South Africa with four clinics, serving a population of approximately half a million people. This resulted in several large international studies undertaking the clinical evaluation of rotavirus vaccines, live attenuated influenza vaccines and other vaccines.

Dr. Steele is the author of more than 270 scientific publications on vaccine research, development, evaluation, and other topics.