Adam Weiss, MPH | Director, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

In 2018, Adam Weiss was named director of the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program. In this capacity, Weiss works in conjunction with the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research, Training, and Eradication of Dracunculiasis at the CDC to provide technical assistance to national eradication programs, and to monitor and disseminate information about the status of the global campaign.

Weiss joined the Carter Center in 2005 as a technical advisor to national Guinea worm eradication programs in Ghana and Ethiopia, and, prior to becoming director, was senior associate director for the program. He also worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ghana where he focused on access to safe water, AIDS awareness, community-based health education, and assisted in the effort to eradicate Guinea worm disease.

Weiss graduated cum laude from Ripon College with a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology and politics and government and holds a master of public health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Weiss received the Charles C. Shepard Award for his thesis on Guinea worm in Ghana.

Donald Hopkins, M.D., M.P.H. | Special Advisor for Guinea Worm Eradication

Dr. Donald R. Hopkins is the former director of health programs at The Carter Center. He first joined the Center in 1987 as the senior consultant for the health programs, leading the Center's efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease and river blindness worldwide. Hopkins' professional experience includes serving as deputy director (1984-1987) and acting director (1985) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He was an assistant professor of tropical public health at Harvard School of Public Health, and he directed the Smallpox Eradication/Measles Control Program in Sierra Leone.

Hopkins attended the Institute of European Studies at the University of Vienna. He received his bachelor of science degree from Morehouse College, his doctor of medicine from the University of Chicago, and his master of public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is board certified in pediatrics and public health and has been a member of seven U.S. delegations to the World Health Assembly.

James A. Zingeser, D.V.M., M.P.H. | Senior Project Advisor, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Dr. James A. Zingeser is an epidemiologist who has worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and The Carter Center since 1989. Zingeser trained in clinical veterinary medicine at Michigan State University and public health epidemiology at the University of Michigan. He began his career at CDC in 1989 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer and subsequently worked throughout Africa, Europe, and Asia on projects ranging from Guinea worm and polio eradication to trachoma and meningococcal meningitis control. In the course of his career, Zingeser has been posted to one ministry of agriculture, two African ministries of health, and the World Health Organization. He participated in the first Guinea Worm Eradication Program mission to Togo in 1989 and joined the Center's Guinea worm efforts full time in 1995, as the resident technical advisor in the Republic of Niger. He then returned to Carter Center headquarters as a senior epidemiologist in 1998 and launched the Trachoma Control Program in seven countries.

Beginning in 2009, Zingeser was posted by the CDC to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome to build a One Health Partnership for the control of diseases at the human-animal interface. In April 2014, Zingeser became the second CDC Ebola Response Team lead in the Republic of Guinea, early in the epidemic. He subsequently returned three more times for Ebola control duty in Sierra Leone and Guinea before returning to the Carter Center in March 2016.

Karmen Unterwegner | Associate Director, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Karmen Unterwegner first joined the Carter Center in 2013 as a technical advisor to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program in Chad. After leaving the program in 2015 to seek her graduate degree, she rejoined the Guinea worm team in 2018 as associate director.

Unterwegner began her development work in Mali with the United States Peace Corps, and has continued to work in sub-Saharan Africa for most of her career. She has largely focused on water and sanitation in efforts to reduce or eliminate the burden of various diseases. Unterwegner has a bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Oregon and a master of public health degree with a focus on global health from Emory University, where she was a Robert W. Woodruff Scholar.

Sarah Anne J. Guagliardo | Epidemiologist, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Dr. Sarah Anne J. Guagliardo is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist assigned to The Carter Center’s Guinea Worm Eradication Program. Dr. Guagliardo analyzes and manages Guinea worm surveillance data pertaining to infections in humans, dogs, and cats, with the goal of understanding transmission patterns over space and time. Prior to her appointment at The Carter Center, Dr. Guagliardo served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the CDC in the Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, where she conducted epidemiologic investigations of risk factors and surveillance for monkeypox in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as other investigations related to rabies, leptospirosis and other problems. She holds a Ph.D. in Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution from Emory University, and an M.P.H. in the Epidemiology of Microbial Disease from Yale University. Dr. Guagliardo began her career as a health education volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in rural Honduras. Since that time, she has worked in twelve countries throughout Latin America and Africa.

Renn McClintic-Doyle | Office Manager, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

As office manager with primary responsibility for the Guinea Worm Eradication Program, Renn McClintic-Doyle maps disease prevalence; archives publications; produces newsletters, journal articles, and health education flip charts; coordinates foreign travel; and works with overseas consultants.

Renn has a Master’s in Healthcare Administration and is currently working on a Master’s in Education from the University of Phoenix.

Christiane Williams | Program Assistant, Guinea Worm Eradication Program

Christiane Williams provides support to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program by coordinating travel plans with overseas consultants and managing the French-language Guinea Worm Wrap-Up newsletter.

After receiving her bachelor’s degree from Ambassador College, Williams worked in the admissions office for the Emory University School of Law. Later, she worked with Associated Colleges of the South, where she coordinated technology workshops for the Faculty Development Program and the Blended Learning Initiative, developed and maintained the website, and produced the quarterly newsletter. She also worked with faculty and administrators to promote and foster collaboration through the use of technology. She speaks French, Creole and Spanish.

Dr. Hubert Zirimwabagabo | Country Representative of The Carter Center in Chad 

Dr. Hubert Zirimwabagabo worked as a Carter Center associate director to the Guinea Worm Eradication Program from 2015 to 2017. Prior to that, he served in Chad for two years as technical adviser to the National Guinea Worm Eradication Program where he provided technical and managerial support, supervising all interventions to stop transmission of Guinea worm disease within five endemic regions in the southwest of Chad. Before joining the Center, Dr. Zirimwabagabo worked as medical coordinator at the American Refugee Committee in Rwanda where he coordinated curative, preventative, and community health services for more than 16,000 Congolese refugees. In his role as country representative, Dr. Zirimwabagabo continues to provide technical support and oversight of the Center’s assistance to Chad’s National Guinea Worm Eradication Program. Dr. Zirimwabagabo received his Bachelor of Science in General Medicine from the University of Rwanda, and holds a Master of Public Health from Boston University and an International Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University.

Sadi Moussa | Country Representative of The Carter Center in Mali 

Our mission is to support technically and financially Guinea Worm Eradication and Trachoma Elimination programs of the MOH. I work in Mali to ensure that the transmission of GW is interrupted and TC is eliminated nationwide. Before, I worked in Niger, MOH as GW Eradication Program Coordinator (1993-2003 and Director of Preventive Health and Sanitation (1994-1997); then Director of Hygiene and Health Education (2005-2010) and focal person for Tobacco Control Program (2005-2010) MOH Niger. I represented Niger in many rounds of negotiation on Tobacco control Protocol in Geneva. I have been many times consultant on WASH for UNDP and GW certification for WHO.I am Environmental Health Engineer (1988) graduate of Polytechnic School of Algiers (Algeria). I'm among the first students to benefit from the William H.Foege Fellowships in Global Health at RSPH, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. I am 2005 MPH graduate from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Global Health field. I have been STOP team on Polio in Rwanda in 2005. I shared multi-disciplinary committees to write Proposals for MOH Niger submitted to Global Fund, WHO, UNICEF and GAVI.

Zerihun Tadesse | Country Representative of The Carter Center in Ethiopia

Zerihun Tadesse is a Public Health Specialist who earned his Doctor of Medicine from Addis Ababa University (AAU) Gondar College of Medical Sciences in 1991 and his Masters of Public Health from School of Graduate Studies of AAU in 2004. He worked for Federal Ministry of Health at different capacities altogether for 17 years. In 2009, he joined The Carter Center Ethiopia as Director of Programs and in 2011 was appointed as Country Representative.

Sarah Yerian | Country Representative of The Carter Center in South Sudan

Sarah Yerian has been the Country Representative for the Carter Center Health Programs in South Sudan since 2016. She also provided support to the South Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Programme as a Technical Advisor in multiple locations in the country. Sarah holds a bachelor of arts degree in Biology and Environmental Studies from Ohio Wesleyan University and a master of public health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Prior to joining the Carter Center, Sarah worked with study abroad programs in East Africa and in both public health and wildlife management research.