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Hayley R. Adams, DVM, PhD, DACVPM, DACVM
Founder & Director of Operations
Dr. Adams has nearly 20 years of experience in wildlife veterinary medicine, conservation, and issues related to One Health in Africa. She has worked with a variety of domestic and wild animals, and has a particular interest in endangered species conservation and studying disease at the human/domestic animal/wildlife interface. Through her career in Africa, she recognized a fundamental link that was often missing in field work, that being the lack of sustainable supplies in order for veterinary and conservation operations to be successful. She created Silent Heroes in 2010 as a way of filling this niche. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Zoology/Anthropology, and went on to receive her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001. She completed a clinical internship in small animal and emergency medicine, and worked briefly in small animal private practice, before returning to her alma mater to work on her PhD in the veterinary sciences. In 2007 she received her PhD from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine's Comparative Medicine Program, with a concentration in epidemiology and virology. Her PhD research focused on the molecular epidemiology and diagnosis of lentiviruses of free-ranging lions in southern Africa. She is a board certified Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (specialties of Environmental health, Infectious & parasitic diseases, Food safety, Epidemiology & biostatistics, & Public health administration & education) and the American College of Veterinary Microbiology (specialties include virology, bacteriology/mycology, & immunology). In addition to her primary duty as Director of Operations for the Foundation, she is also an Adjunct Professor for the veterinary assistant program at Kaplan University.
Innocent Rwego, BVM, MS, PhD
Assistant Director of Veterinary Operations
Dr. Innocent Rwego is a wildlife epidemiologist at Makerere University, Uganda. Dr. Rwego started his veterinary career as a domestic animal veterinarian for the Ugandan government. From there he went on to work for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, Inc., as a field veterinarian in Uganda where he worked for nearly 5 years. He holds a PhD from Makerere University. Currently he is a lecturer in the Zoology Department at Makerere University, as well as a Postdoctoral fellow at the Global Health Institute and Department of Environmental Studies of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.
David I. Evans
Assistant Director of Park Protection Operations
Mr. Evans' law enforcement career includes service as a United States Border Patrol Agent and Operations Officer for the U.S. Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue Team (BORSTAR), a specialized U.S. emergency search and rescue unit. Prior to joining the U.S. Border Patrol, Mr. Evans served as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps and with Marine Security Guard detachments in China, Singapore and the Dominican Republic. Mr. Evans has served almost 20 years with the federal government holding a variety of law enforcement positions, including immigration, tactical training, and weapons training and oversight.
Alice Asiimwe Rwego, MBChB, MSc
Assistant Director of Medical Operations
Dr. Asiimwe is a medical doctor with a Masters of Science in Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics from Makerere University. She currently works at the Uganda National Referral Hospital’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases Clinic as a researcher. Prior to her post with Makerere, she worked in Kabale hospital, a regional referral hospital in southwestern Uganda. During this time she found the opportunity to go mountain gorilla tracking with Dr. Adams, and discovered her passion for Africa's wildlife. She has experience treating patients with animal-related illness and injury, from zoonotic diseases to injuries sustained from animal encounters. She also knows firsthand the problems medical clinics in Africa face due to a lack of supplies. She is proud to serve in her role with Silent Heroes to help provide supplies as well as to serve as an interface between veterinarians and physicians in the control of zoonotic diseases.
