Mark Klempner

Mark S. Klempner, MD, is the executive vice chancellor for MassBiologics and professor of medicine at UMass Medical School. Dr. Klempner joined UMMS in July 2012 from the Boston University School of Medicine, where he served as associate provost for research, Conrad Wesselhoeft Professor of Medicine and the founding director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories.

Klempner is internationally known for basic infectious disease research and the development of therapeutics and vaccines to combat infections. From 2003 to 2011, he served as principal investigator on a grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to design the scientific programs and build one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories. Known as NEIDL, these laboratories study newly emerging infectious diseases such as hemorrhagic fever viruses and re-emerging diseases such as tuberculosis and influenza. The focus of research is on basic and translational studies leading to development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.

Klempner’s own research includes investigations into the molecular biology and pathogenic mechanisms of Lyme disease; patient-based clinical research on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease; molecular methods for detecting and identifying microorganisms; and connections between neutrophils and cytokines, leading to therapies for inflammatory disorders.

Prior to his appointment at Boston University, Klempner was the Louisa C. Endicott Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine. A graduate of the Cornell University Medical College, he trained at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at NIAID. He is the author of more than 260 publications, chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIH Clinical Center and has served as associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine for the past 10 years. He has been recognized with numerous awards including the Young Investigator Award and the Excellence in Research Achievement Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America and membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians.