Peter Acker is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Acker holds an MD and an MPH from the Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He completed his emergency medicine training at the University of Chicago, where he served as chief resident. He completed a fellowship in International Emergency Medicine at Stanford University. He currently holds the rank of Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and was named a Faculty Fellow with the Center for Innovation in Global Health (CIGH) at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Acker’s academic work in global health has focused on strengthening health systems, particularly emergency referral systems, to increase access to emergency care for vulnerable populations, including mothers and newborns. Dr. Acker played the role of Long Term Technical Advisor for the USAID funded Quality Health Services Project in Cambodia. As part of this role he lived and worked in country, helping design and implement efficient and effective triage and emergency referral systems throughout nine Cambodian provinces. He has also worked extensively with the GVK EMRI ambulance service in India, currently the world’s largest prehospital care system, and the Nepal Ambulance Service to increase the quality and reach of prehospital care and effective emergency referral systems in both of these regions. He is currently involved in a number of efforts focused in improving the measurement and effectiveness of emergency referral systems. He has also worked extensively in emergency medical training curriculum development in South and Southeast Asia as well as Sub-Saharan Africa.