The 2017 Merigan Lecture

The Annual Thomas C. Merigan Jr. Lecture


Each year the Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine hosts the Thomas C. Merigan, Jr. Lecture. This endowed lectureship is in honor of Dr. Merigan, Professor Emeritus, and the former Chief of the division of Infectious Diseases at Stanford. Dr. Merigan is an internationally known virologist whose laboratory contributed the tests to measure HIV viral load, among many other notable achievements, and he trained many leaders in the field of infectious diseases. Each year, the lectureships brings a renowned scientist to speak about their work in infectious diseases at Medicine Grand Rounds. The first lecture, in 1994, was given by Dr. Jonas Salk.

Timeline of Speakers

  • 1994 Jonas E. Salk, MD
  • 1995 Karl Johnson, MD
  • 1996 Robert Channock, MD
  • 1997 Baruch Blumberg, MD
  • 1998 Robert C. Gallo, MD
  • 1999 Maurice R. Hilleman, PhD, DSc
  • 2000 Michael B. A. Oldstone, MD
  • 2001 Stanley N. Cohen, MD
  • 2002 Harriet Robinson, PhD
  • 2003 Richard D. Klausner, MD
  • 2006 John E. Wennberg, MD, MPH
  • 2007 Lawrence Corey, MD
  • 2008 Douglas Richman, MD
  • 2009 Mark Wainberg, PhD
  • 2010 Caroline Hall, MD
  • 2012 Anthony S. Fauci, MD
  • 2013 Thomas C. Quinn, MD
  • 2014 Bruce Walker, MD
  • 2015 Julie Overbaugh, PhD
  • 2016 Peter Piot, MD, PhD, FRCP
  • 2017 David Heymann, MD
  • 2018 Steven Holland, MD
  • 2019 Anne Schuchat, MD

Dr. Pardis Sabeti

The 2021 Merigan Lecturer

    Dr. Sabeti is a computational geneticist with expertise developing algorithms to detect genetic signatures of adaption in humans and the microbial organisms that infect humans. Her lab’s key research areas include: (1) Developing analytical methods to detect and investigate evolution in the genomes of humans and other species (2) Examining host and viral genetic factors driving disease susceptibility to the devastating and deadly diseases in West Africa, Ebola Virus Disease and Lassa hemorrhagic fever. (3) Investigating the genomes of microbes, including Lassa virus, Ebola virus, Plasmodium falciparum malaria, Vibrio cholera, and Mycobacterioum tuberculosis to help in the development of intervention strategies. (4) Determining the microbial cause of undiagnosed acute febrile illness.

    Dr. Sabeti completed her undergraduate degree at MIT, her graduate work at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and her medical degree summa cum laude from Harvard Medical School as a Soros Fellow. Dr. Sabeti is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader and a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, and was named a TIME magazine ‘Person of the Year’ as one of the Ebola fighters. Her awards included the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Natural Science, the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, the NIH Innovator Award, the Packard Fellowship, and an Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She has served on the MIT Board of Trustees and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Women in Science, Medicine, and Engineering. Dr. Sabeti is also the lead singer and co-song writer of the rock band Thousand Days.

    Dr. Sabeti is one of the co-founders and a shareholder of SHERLOCK Biosciences, a company dedicated to improving health worldwide through accurate, fast and affordable testing. She is on the board and a shareholder of Danaher Corporation, the parent company of both Cepheid and IDT. She is a scientific advisory board member and shareholder of NextGen Jane, a women's health company launched by two lab alumni.


MEDICAL GRAND ROUNDS

Wed., December 15, 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.

Title TBD - Zoom

Dr. Thomas C. Merigan, Professor Emeritus