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Dr. Emerson joined The Carter Center as director for the Trachoma Control Program in November 2004.   He has spent nearly a decade devoted to operational research and program evaluation in support of the global effort to control trachoma. Dr. Emerson was named co-director of the Malaria Control Program in 2006, and oversees the program's integration with trachoma control activities in Ethiopia.

Before joining The Carter Center, Dr. Emerson was a research fellow at the School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom. There he was the principal investigator for evaluations of Helen Keller International and World Vision trachoma control programs in Morocco, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nepal, Vietnam, Tanzania, and Ethiopia, in addition to leading operational research in The Gambia and lecturing.

Previously, as principal investigator, Dr. Emerson led the United Kingdom Medical Research Council in The Gambia in conducting the first rigorous study establishing the importance of flies in trachoma transmission and the impact of latrines on trachoma control. He also has led a project to write a practical toolbox for trachoma program managers to implement the 'F' and 'E' components of the SAFE strategy for trachoma control: Surgery; Antibiotics treatment; Facial cleanliness/hygiene promotion; and Environmental improvement.

Dr. Emerson holds a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the University of Durham and a master's degree in applied parasitology and medical entomology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Royal Entomological Society.