HPV Vaccinations and Cervical Cancer

Ambassador Cowal leads the American Cancer Society efforts to reduce the global burden of cancer primarily through advocacy for effective tobacco control measures; improvement of access to cancer screening, treatment and pain relief; and collaborations with other cancer control organizations, advocates, and governments.  Ambassador Cowal has been a key contributor to the public health and nonprofit arenas, having helped found the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in Switzerland and serving as its director for external relations to raise awareness of AIDS as a public health and economic issue, as well as serving as founder, president and CEO of the Cuba Policy Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the study of the benefits of expanding trade and people-to-people contact with Cuba.

She served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, appointed by former Presidents George H.W. Bush and William J. Clinton. Cowal has also served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, minister counselor for public affairs at the U.S. embassy in Mexico, and counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. Other foreign service assignments have taken her from India to Colombia to Israel.

Ambassador Cowal comes to the American Cancer Society most recently from Population Services International (PSI). She is a graduate of DePauw University (BA) and George Washington University (MPA).

   She will be introduced by Jamie Mager