Mrs. Coumba Touré is the founder and President of Advanced Development for Africa (ADA) Foundation. Born in Mali, Mrs. Touré began her education in Russia where she earned a Masters Degree in Microbiology. Subsequently, she went on to the Institute of Virology in Hamburg, Germany, and finally specialized in Epidemiology and Biostatistics at John Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Early in her career, Mrs. Touré was Chief of the Virology Laboratory at the Institute for Health Research in Mali, where she acted as coordinator of research programs She then moved on to the World Bank where she conducted the technical review of health projects in Africa, and assisted in project design, monitoring progress and evaluation of various programs.

Since 2000, Mrs. Touré has worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) where she effectively developed and implemented the African AIDS Vaccine Program (AAVP). During this time, she also worked on its strategic plan and established partnerships within the WHO as well as with external partners. Mrs. Touré was also adept at ensuring the effective coordination and implementation of the AAVP program, in collaboration with the AAVP Steering Committee that was providing scientific and strategic guidance to the program.

Under her leadership, the AAVP has contributed significantly to a new level of visibility for African HIV vaccine activities and has played an important coordinating and networking role for scaling up research activities in Africa. For the past two years, Mrs. Touré has worked towards a smooth transition of the AAVP to be established as an autonomous organization in Africa. This move will not only ensure the transfer of knowledge and technology to African institutions, it will also bring AAVP closer to its local partners while increasing African leadership and ownership at the same time.

To date, Mrs. Touré has successfully dedicated her life’s passion and commitment to improving the health of the people around the world, particularly throughout the continent of Africa.