Professor Eon Nigel Harris

Professor Harris, a Guyanese by birth, brings to CXC a wealth of experience in education.  He is currently Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies.  Before returning to the Caribbean in 2004 he was Dean and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, USA.

Professor Harris graduated magna cum laude from Howard University, with a degree in Chemistry and proceeded on a fellowship to Yale University, where he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Biochemistry.  He earned his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania, completing this within three years and again graduating with honours.  He then returned to the Caribbean where he completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of the West Indies at Mona and was awarded the post-graduate degree, Doctor of Medicine (DM).

He is internationally known for his work as a Rheumatologist.  With colleagues in London, he helped to define a disorder which they called the Antiphospholipid Syndrome and devised a diagnostic test (the anticardiolipin test) for it.  For this work he shared with Dr Graham Hughes and Dr Aziz Gharavi of Hammersmith Hospital the Ceiba-Geigy Prize.  Over 150 papers, editorials, reviews and chapters on this subject have been published by Professor Harris.

He joined the University of Louisville, Kentucky, in 1987 and by 1993 became Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Rheumatology. There he launched the Antiphospholipid Standardisation Laboratory which leads worldwide efforts in standardisation of the anticardiolipin test and distributing these standards to over 500 laboratories worldwide.  The laboratory currently operates from the Morehouse School of Medicine and continues to attract international fellows.

His academic achievements and personal qualities have earned Professor Harris national leadership positions in organizations such as the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Centre for Research Resources (NCCR) and the Association of Academic Health Centres.  He has received many honours and awards, including the Centennial Award for Contributions to Medicine of the National Medical Association of America in 1995.

Professor Harris is married to Dr C. Yvette Williams-Harris, a general internist and they have three children.