Amir Attaran

Amir Attaran is a Canadian lawyer, immunologist, and law professor.

Currently, Attaran is Associate Professor of Law and Population Health and the holder of the Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy at the University of Ottawa.

Early life and education

Attaran was born in California to immigrants from Iran.

He earned a law degree from the University of British Columbia, and a D.Phil in immunology from the University of Oxford.

Attaran is a naturalized Canadian.

Advocacy

Attaran is extensively involved with the organization Africa Fighting Malaria, and has argued publicly for the renewed use of DDT in sub-Saharan Africa to eradicate mosquito populations and combat malaria.

In 2004, Attaran wrote an opinion piece with Shirin Ebadi, published in the New York Times, arguing that the World Bank should incorporate democratic principles in its funding criteria, and avoid funding dictatorships.

On September 9, 2005, he wrote another opinion piece in the Times criticizing the United Nations for not adopting quantifiable metrics for its Millennium Development Goals.

In February 2007, he received significant media coverage in Canada when he brought forward testimony by Afghan prisoners captured by Canadians and handed to the custody of the Afghan National Army, who said they had later been abused by the ANA. ] (See also Canadian Afghan detainee abuse scandal.)

References

External links

* [http://www.commonlaw.uottawa.ca/index.php?option=com_contact&task=view&contact_id=28&lang=en Profile of Dr. Attaran] from the University of Ottawa