The Medical Director and CEO is Alan Spira MD, DTM&H, Dr Spira has taught or volunteered as a physician in the the developing world for over 30 years, and has degrees in emergency medicine, tropical medicine, and acupuncture. 

Dr. Spira obtained his BS degree in Microbiology, with Honors, from UCLA (Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) and his MD degree from the UCLA School of Medicine. His original specialty training in emergency medicine was done at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center, then the largest (read: busiest) trauma center in North America. He then acquired the post-graduate Diplomate of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene degree at the prestigious London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine which he has put to good use both abroad and domestically. Dr. Spira was also trained in diving & hyperbaric medicine. In addition, he has the unique quality of being an MD who is board-certified in acupuncture. Dr. Spira is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine, the American Society of Tropical Medicine, the American Academy of Emergency Medicine and a Diplomate of the American Association of Medical Acupuncture. 

Dr. Spira has written extensively, for both the scientific and medical communities, as well as for the public. In 2003 he published a two-part series on travel medicine in The Lancet and authored chapters in the Travel and Tropical Medicine Manual as well as the textbook, Travel Medicine.  His writings serve not only to improve the burgeoning field of Global Health but to increase its visibility in both public and scientific eyes. He has published 25 scientific articles, 61 for the lay public, four for the military and one first aid book, Common Sense First Aid. 

Captain Spira is a retired reserve medical officer in the United States Navy, where he served as the Battalion Surgeon for multiple units in the United States Marine Corps Reserve. In 2006 he was deployed to the combat area of Al Anbar province in Iraq, with naval combat engineers and the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, spending seven austere and turbulent months providing trauma and medical care for US troops and Iraqi nationals.