Dr Marcos Espinal, of the Dominican Republic, has served as the Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership since 2003. In this role he fosters implementation of the Global Plan to Stop TB and facilitates execution of the decisions of the governing bodies of the Stop TB Partnership (Partners' Forum, Coordinating Board and working groups). He also coordinates the Secretariat's work on partnership building; resource mobilization; and advocacy, communication and social mobilization and the activities of the Global Drug Facility.

Dr Espinal studied medicine at the University of Santo Domingo Medical School in the Dominican Republic. After receiving his medical degree he trained in paediatrics at the Robert Reid Children's Hospital of Santo Domingo and completed his master's and doctoral degrees in public health at the University of California, Berkeley. He then returned to the Dominican Republic to work at the National Research Centre for Maternal and Child Health, leading several research studies on tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases.

He joined the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1997 to lead the WHO/ International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Global Project on Drug Resistance Surveillance and the building of a strategy to manage multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in resource-limited countries. From 2000 he managed the DOTS-Plus initiative for the management of MDR-TB, including the Green Light Committee. He was also responsible for the coordination of DOTS Expansion activities for the WHO Americas Region.

In 1996, he was awarded the Scientific Prize by the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. He is also the recipient of the 2007 Elise and Walter A. Haas International Award from the University of California, Berkeley, which honours an alumnus who is a native, citizen, and resident of a nation other than the United States of America, and who has a distinguished record of service to his or her country. Dr Espinal has published more than 50 papers and book chapters, primarily on TB, MDR-TB and HIV/AIDS.