Col. Jerome Kim, Deputy Director and Chief, Department of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and HIV Vaccines Project Manager with the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Development Activity at Fort Detrick, Maryland, has been selected to serve as the new Director-General of the International Vaccine Institute after his retirement from the Army in early 2015.

The International Vaccine Institute is a Seoul-based non-profit devoted to research in vaccine development and delivery in cooperation with the World Health Organization.

"I am honored by the opportunity to join IVI, and I look forward to working with the IVI team, partners and donors," said Kim, "IVI is a very unique organization. Its breadth in vaccinology spans research and development, epidemiology, technology transfer, policy and access. Together, we will improve the health and wellbeing of the world's poorest populations through fulfilling IVI's mission ' to discover, develop and deliver safe, effective and affordable vaccines for developing nations."

Prof. Adel A. Mahmoud, Chaif of IVI's Board of Trustees, announced the appointment.

"Jerome's scientific knowledge, technical expertise and organizational and leadership skills make him an ideal fit for the position," said Mahmoud. "With his distinguished track record in vaccine research and development and passionate commitment to vaccines, he will bring strong scientific leadership and management of a dynamic international organization."

Kim served as the U.S. Army lead for the Phase III HIV vaccine trial (RV144), which was the first to show an HIV vaccine could protect against infection, as well as subsequent studies that identified laboratory correlates and HIV sequence changes associated with vaccination.

He was named one of "The 50 Most Influential People in Vaccines" in 2014 by the vaccine industry organization, Vaccine Nation. Kim was the principal deputy and chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology and Pathogenesis at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program and the U.S. Army's project manager for the HIV Vaccines and Advanced Concepts Evaluation and Staging.