The Annual Thomas C. Merigan Jr. Lecture
2016
The Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine host, Peter Piot, MD, in 2016.
2015
The Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine host, Julie Overbaugh, PhD, in 2015.
2014
The Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine host, Bruce Walker, MD, in 2014.
2013
The Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine host, Thomas C. Quinn, MD, in 2013.
2012
The Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine host, Anthony S. Fauci, MD, in 2012.
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.
1994 — Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first successful polio vaccine.
1997 — Dr. Baruch Blumberg was an American physician, geneticist, and co-recipient of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the hepatitis B virus while an investigator at the NIH.
1998 — Dr. Robert Gallo is best known for his role in the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and in the development of the HIV blood test.
1999 — Dr. Maurice Hilleman is known as one of the world's leading vaccinologists, having developed eight of the 14 vaccines routinely given for once-common childhood diseases.
2000 — Dr. Michael Oldstone has made significant advancements that have led to the understanding of viral persistence and immunity in the nervous system.
2002 — Harriet Robinson has a multi-protein clade B DNA/MVA vaccine in phase 2a clinical trials through the US HIV vaccine Trials Network (HVTN).
2006 — Dr. John Wennberg is a researcher of healthcare variations.
2007 — Dr. Lawrence Corey pioneered the development of antiviral therapy for human chronic viral infections.
2008 — Dr. Douglas Richman has made major clinical and laboratory contributions to the field of HIV/AIDS, which represent a model of translational medical research.
2009 — Dr. Mark Wainberg was the first to identify 3TC as an anti-viral drug effective against HIV in 1989, and has made multiple contributions to the field of HIV drug resistance.
2012 — Dr. Anthony "Tony" Fauci is an immunologist who has made substantial contributions to HIV/AIDS research and other immunodeficiencies, both as a scientist and as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
2013 — Dr. Thomas Quinn investigations have involved the study of the epidemiologic, virologic, immunologic features of HIV infection in Africa, the Caribbean, South America and Asia.
2014 — Dr. Bruce Walker leads an international research effort to understand how some rare people who are infected with HIV but have never been treated can fight the virus with their immune system.
2015 — Dr. Julie Overbaugh worked closely with investigators in Kenya for the past 2 decades, including on a number of studies of mother-to-child and heterosexual transmission of HIV-1.
2016 — Dr. Peter Piot is a known microbiologist for his research into Ebola and AIDs.
David L. Heymann is Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Head of the Centre on Global Health Security at Chatham House, London and Chairman of the Board, Public Health England, UK. Previously he was the World Health Organization's Assistant Director-General for Health Security and Environment, and Representative of the Director-General for polio eradication.
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.
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
- 2020 Canceled (COVID-19)
- 2021 Pardis Sabeti
- 2022 Jesse Bloom
Dr. Jesse Bloom
The 2023 Merigan Lecturer
Dr. Jesse Bloom studies evolution using viruses and viral proteins as models. Specifically focusing on the fast-evolving influenza virus, Bloom aims to understand how mutations in viral genes shape the pathogen’s ability to infect and spread. He uses computational biology and real-world data to build evolutionary models and examine different scales of viral evolution, from evolution within a single host to evolution on a global scale. In doing so, Bloom addresses both fundamental and translational questions, including those with relevance to developing more effective seasonal flu vaccines.
MEDICAL GRAND ROUNDS
Wed., December 15, 8 a.m. – 9 a.m.
Title TBD - Zoom
Dr. Thomas C. Merigan, Professor Emeritus