Douglas Shaffer, M.D., M.H.S., is the Deputy Director General of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI)’s Global Affairs & Communications unit and Special Envoy for Global Health Diplomacy. In his role as Deputy Director General, he leads the strategic vision and execution of IVI’s membership engagement activities, communications, and advocacy. He brings to the role extensive experience in clinical research, medical education, regulatory strengthening, capacity building, and global health diplomacy.

Prior to joining IVI, Dr. Shaffer was the Associate Director in the Office of Global Policy and Strategy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In that capacity, he advised on resilient medical product supply chains and equitable access to quality medical products and led priority initiatives for the World Health Organization and African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

Previously, Dr. Shaffer served as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya; Director of the U.S. Army Medical Research Directorate-Africa at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research-Kenya; Chief Medical Officer at the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State; Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-Rwanda program, and Clinical Trials Unit Principal Investigator at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS Clinical Trial Group.

Dr. Shaffer held active American Board of Internal Medicine certification through 2025 and maintains licensures in pharmacy and medicine. He served as an Attending Physician in the Department of Medicine at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, U.S. and taught medicine in both Kenya and Rwanda. He is a graduate of the NIH Training Program in Clinical Research and additionally obtained a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research from Duke University School of Medicine.