Prof. LaForce has been the Director of Technical Services at the Serum Institute of India since 2012. He has held research and academic positions at both the University of Colorado and the University of Rochester School of Medicines and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. He currently holds the rank of Clinical Professor at the NYU Langone School of Medicine in New York.
He is board-certified in internal medicine and infectious diseases and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Diseases Society of America. He is also a Member of the American Epidemiological Society, the Society of General Internal Medicine, and the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America.
Professional Milestones
Dr. LaForce earned his Doctor of Medicine degree from Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry, Jersey City, NJ, and completed his internal medicine and infectious disease training at the Harvard Service at Boston City Hospital. He has held many research and academic positions at various institutions, such as the University of Colorado and the University of Rochester.
He also worked at the Veterans Administration Medical Center (VAMC) and has acted as a Consultant for USAID, the WHO, and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). He was the Director of the Meningitis Vaccine Project from 2001 to 2012.
Research & Achievements
Dr. LaForce worked on national and international immunization policies across many countries.
He was extensively involved in the early WHO activities to develop global immunizations as he served as a Consultant in the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) of the WHO and helped develop the field tests for poliomyelitis' survey disease burden protocols and assessment tools.
Dr. LaForce oversaw all aspects of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Child Survival Project. He evaluated and helped develop the CDC/USAID country partnerships to combat childhood infectious diseases through frequent country visits. He completed neonatal tetanus and poliomyelitis disease burden studies and evaluated national immunization programs in countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Guinea, Haiti, India, Nigeria, and Senegal.
For a decade, he has served as the Director of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the global health Seattle-based NGO PATH. He has an integral role in overseeing the successful development, licensure, and widespread distribution of the first internationally licensed vaccine, MenAfriVac that provides long-lasting protection against sub-Saharan Africa's most important cause of epidemic meningitis.
The project aimed to develop a new and affordable Group A meningococcal conjugate vaccine to compete against the most important cause of meningitis in Sub-Saharan Africa. Its introduction in 2010, and until December 2021, over 350 million Africans had received the vaccine.
Additionally, he directs technical activities for various vaccine development plans at the Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. (SIIPL). He serves as SIIPL's representative to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), The Food & Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institute of Health (NIH). Also, He works with African public health officials in developing and introducing the meningococcal conjugate vaccines.
Awards
He received many Awards such as the PATH Vision Award Advancing Global Health, the Albert B Sabin Gold Medal, the Deals of Distinction Award, the PATH Vision Award Innovators, the Charles C Shepard Science Award for the best manuscript on original research published by a CDC scientist. He received the Honorary Doctor of Science and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Humanitarian Award from the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases to honor individuals with outstanding humanitarian efforts and achievements. The Infectious Diseases Society of America's D.A. Henderson Award for Outstanding Contributions to Public Health recognizes his lifetime of achievement in public health.
In recognition of his distinguished contributions and pioneering work in the development of the Group A meningococcal conjugate vaccine; the Meningitis Vaccine, and the policies to prevent infectious diseases, Dr. Marc La force truly deserves Hamdan Award for Medical Research Excellence - Prevention for the term 2021-2022.
