Stephen B. Thacker, MD, MSc, ASG/RADM (Ret.), USPHS, contributed a legacy of extraordinary leadership to CDC and unyielding dedication and contributions to the field of epidemiology and to public health science. This fund honors Dr. Thacker's life and service to public health as well as his passion for the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS). Your gift will help support EIS and CDC’s Disease Detective Camps for high school students. This fund also supports the prestigious Stephen B. Thacker Excellence in Mentoring Award, which is given out each year at the EIS Conference, as well as supports special projects on an as-needed basis for the Stephen B. Thacker Library at CDC.

More about Dr. Thacker

Stephen B. Thacker, MD, MSc, ASG/RADM (Ret.), USPHS, contributed a legacy of extraordinary leadership to CDC and unyielding dedication and contributions to the field of epidemiology and to public health science, including helping to identify Legionnaires disease. He was dedicated to his family, friends and community and is truly missed. Read his full bio.

The Thacker Family established the Stephen B. Thacker Fund at the CDC Foundation to honor his legacy. Today, his family works to continue his legacy by providing ongoing support to the public health leaders of tomorrow. Read the full story.

"Team Thacker" Family Website

Stephen B. Thacker Video Tribute

CDC employs more than 1,500 staff in 50+ countries around the world. This fund provides humanitarian assistance to locally employed CDC staff in times of crisis.

These health workers are essential to CDC's work overseas, ensuring the sustainability and diversity of CDC's global programs. As these staff are often the primary breadwinners for their families, assistance from the Compassion Fund can be extremely helpful in an emergency situation.

On Our Blog: CDC Foundation's Compassion Fund for Global Health Workers

In 1984, Drs. Bob Chen and Katy Irwin learned that a physician from a low-income country who had been accepted to the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) was at risk of losing her financial support for this two-year program in applied public health and epidemiology. Because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was not authorized at the time to provide financial assistance to foreign nationals for this applied public health training, the two young physicians decided to address this gap by establishing the Atlanta International Health Fellowship (AIHF).

With help from other EIS Officers, employees and retirees of CDC and Emory University employees and Atlanta residents, they raised funds and formed partnerships with Emory University, CDC and Villa International Atlanta for tuition and lodging support, respectively.

Since the first fellowships were awarded in 1991, over 60 individuals from over 34 countries have received stipends to help cover some of their costs (e.g., tuition, lodging, medical insurance and/or transportation) to complete applied public health courses sponsored by CDC or Emory University.

Today, funds are awarded for both remote online and in-person course formats and the AIHF collaborates with other international fellowship programs, such as the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship. In 1997, the Tull Charitable Foundation made a major grant to enable the AIHF to become the first endowed fund at the CDC Foundation.

For further information, please contact Susanne Salehi at ssalehi@cdcfoundation.org or via phone at 901.907.4224.

The CDC Foundation's Bed Nets for Children Program helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) teams purchase and distribute insecticide-treated bed nets to help protect children and families from malaria. Malaria is a leading cause of death and disease worldwide. 

The Bed Nets for Children Fund is currently supporting the Bidi Bidi Camp in Uganda. Nearly 277,000 refugees have made a home in the Bidi Bidi camp of Uganda to escape the civil war in South Sudan. Living in close quarters with poor nutrition, decreased immunity and lack of access to health services has led to a recent dramatic increase in malaria. The CDC Foundation, working with CDC, needs your help to provide insecticide-treated bed nets to Bidi Bidi to help stop the spread of malaria.

Join with us to make sure every family in Bidi Bidi has a bed net. Give Now

What is malaria?

Malaria is caused by a parasite carried by the Anopheles mosquito. People with malaria typically are very sick with high fevers, shaking chills and flu-like illness, and they can die if they do not receive proper medical treatment. Pregnant women and children under 5 who have little to no immunity are more likely to become severely ill and die.

Malaria typically is found in tropical and subtropical countries where higher temperatures allow the Anopheles mosquito to thrive. Malaria parasites, which grow and develop inside the mosquito, need warmth to complete their growth before they are mature enough to be transmitted to humans.

In sub-Saharan Africa, mosquitoes transmit malaria very efficiently, and the type of malaria parasite most common in the region causes severe, potentially fatal disease. Health experts face many challenges to building solid malaria control programs in the region, including an overall lack of resources, political instability and the emergence of malaria parasites that are increasingly resistant to antimalarial drugs.

What is an insecticide-treated bed net?

A bed net is a net that hangs above a sleeping space, usually a bed or matt, and provides a physical barrier between the malaria-carrying mosquito and the person at risk of getting the disease. An insecticide-treated bed net protects the person sleeping under the net even if the net has small holes in it, because the insecticide kills mosquitoes that do get through the net before they reach the sleeping person. Since insecticide-treated nets kill the mosquitoes, they help reduce malaria transmission community-wide (if there is high use of insecticide-treated nets in the community).

Even where insecticide-treated nets have been recommended for all children under 5 years, most children do not sleep under a bed net. A long-lasting insecticide-treated bed net costs an average of $5 and protects up to three children. Unfortunately, this cost is too high for most families in poor rural African communities who survive through subsistence farming.

How does CDC distribute bed nets? Who benefits?

The CDC Foundation's Bed Nets for Children Program provides insecticide-treated bed nets to CDC-affiliated programs.

Learn more about CDC's malaria work.