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Hayley R. Adams, DVM, PhD, DACVPM, DACVM
Founder & Director of Operations
Dr. Hayley Adams has traveled to Africa several times to conduct wildlife research, and has worked with animals ranging from gorillas to sea turtles. She remains committed to her passion for wildlife conservation. In 1997 she traveled to Uganda to work on a research project with mountain gorillas and chimpanzees, where she met and worked with colleague and friend, Dr. Innocent Rwego. At this time a partnership was formed that paved the way for the creation of the Silent Heroes Foundation.Dr. Adams graduated from The University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 2001. 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 research took her to South Africa where she studied lentiviruses in free-ranging lions. She is a board certified Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and the American College of Veterinary Microbiology. Dr. Adams is currently an adjunct Professor in Healthcare Pathways with Kaplan University. She and her husband, David Evans, have two children.
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. Dr. Rwego and his wife, Dr. Alice Asiimwe Rwego, have two children.
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. He lives in McLean, Virginia with his wife and two children.
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.
