Dr. Andrus, a national of the United States of America, has a Bachelor of Science from Stanford University (1975) and a medical degree from the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis (1979). He completed his family practice residency at University of California, San Francisco in 1982.

Dr. Andrus has more than 25 years experience working in primary care and immunization programs. For 22 years he worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), principally on secondment to PAHO and to WHO’s Region of Southeast Asia (SEARO). He worked for PAHO (1989-1993) and SEARO (1993-1999) on global polio eradication programs and served as SEARO Director of Vaccines and Biologicals from 1999 to 2000. From 2000 to 2002, Dr. Andrus was Head of the Vaccinology and Immunization Program at the Institute for Global Health, University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley.

From 2003 to the present, Dr. Andrus has worked at PAHO as the Chief, and subsequently Lead Senior Technical Advisor, to the Immunization Unit, Family and Community Health. He also holds faculty positions at University of California, San Francisco and George Washington University School of Medicine.

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Dr. Gross, a national of Costa Rica, obtained her degree in Medicine at the University of Costa Rica in 1982 and a master's in Epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Texas in 1989. From 1982 to 1984, she was a Physician in Costa Rica attending outpatients, inpatients, emergencies and consultations for chronic terminal patients. In 1984, she became a Research Assistant at the Costa Rican Social Security Institute (CCSS) in San José, where she later became the Chief of the Health Services Research Section from 1985 to 1986. She was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Medical Technology at the University of Costa Rica from 1986 to 1989.

In 1989, Dr. Gross started working at PAHO on short-term assignments for the Chronic Diseases department, evaluating health service capacities in communities, and evaluating the state of the diabetic patient in the Western Hemisphere.

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At Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he conducted research in information technology and diplomacy as a Fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He also participated in the Senior Seminar at the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute, the most advanced professional development program available to senior foreign policy and national security officers of the United States Government.

Mr. Boorstein has over thirty years of international experience as a Foreign Service Officer, serving in various positions at United States diplomatic and consular posts in Italy, Zaire, Canada, Russia, Poland, Venezuela and China. His vast experience overseas has made him proficient in Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Polish and Chinese.

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Ms. Cocco, a national of the Dominican Republic, has collaborated with the Organization since 1977 and has extensive management and administrative experience. She served as the PAHO country office administrator in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and later in Brasilia, Brazil. In her work with the Organization, Ms. Cocco promoted strategic collaboration in support of PAHO's technical and administrative decentralization program and institutional development working with several countries of the Region including Nicaragua, Belize, Bolivia, Panama, Cuba, Haiti, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Uruguay.

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