Ms. Kelly Callahan has more than 25 years’ experience in neglected tropical disease control, elimination, and eradication. Kelly is the Director of The Carter Center’s Trachoma Control Program. As the Director, Ms. Callahan oversees programmatic, technical, and financial support for implementation of the SAFE strategy for trachoma elimination in five country programs. Additionally, Kelly supports operational research towards meeting trachoma elimination thresholds; and coordinates and collaborates with other neglected tropical disease programs at The Carter Center and in partnership with many other organizations.

Kelly started her public health career in 1996 as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer based in the Ivory Coast. Kelly joined The Carter Center in 1998 in Southern Sudan, where she was the field coordinator and then country director for the Sudan Guinea Worm Eradication Program (SGWEP). She has held a variety of positions at The Carter Center and lived in Africa for almost ten years. In 2017, the National Peace Corps Association bestowed on Ms. Callahan its annual Sargent Shriver Award for Distinguished Humanitarian Service.

Kelly holds a master’s degree in public health from Emory University and an undergraduate degree in earth sciences and communications from the University of Cincinnati. Kelly has over 50 peer-reviewed publications in leading scientific journals.