David A Townes MD MPH DTM&H

Dr. David Townes received his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts, and completed a residency in emergency medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he also completed a fellowship in international emergency medicine, and earned a Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Health Policy and Administration. He also holds a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (DTM&H) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. 

He is currently a Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine in the School of Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Global Health in the School of Public Health, at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. 

Dr. Townes has 18 years of experience working for the Federal Government including currently as a Senior Health Advisor for the Bureau of Disaster and Humanitarian Response (DHR, formerly IHR), at the Department of State (DOS), and formerly as a Senior Health Advisor for the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance  (formerly OFDA), at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and a Medical Epidemiologist in the Global Public Health Emergency Branch (formerly ERRB), at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  He served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the Malaria Branch at the CDC and as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Public Health Service (USPHS). In these roles he has worked throughout Africa and Asia.

He has been an expedition physician in Antarctica, Costa Rica, throughout the western United States and on Mt. Kilimanjaro, including as Medical Director for The Subaru Primal Quest Expedition Length Adventure Race, The Coastal Challenge and The Heartland AIDSRide.  In addition, he was the Medical Director of Remote Medical International, and has been a physician member of the National Ski Patrol and the Yosemite National Park Search and Rescue Team. 

With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Townes has worked extensively in public health, global health, humanitarian emergencies, emergency medicine, wilderness and expedition medicine, and malaria.