Donald S. Burke, MD, dean emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, is one of the world’s foremost experts in prevention, diagnosis and control of infectious diseases of global concern, including HIV/AIDS, dengue, hepatitis A, avian influenza and emerging infectious diseases. In addition to serving as dean of Pitt Public Health, Dr. Burke was associate vice chancellor for global health, health sciences, and director of the Center for Vaccine Research. He also was the first UPMC-Jonas Salk Professor of Global Health.
Before joining the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Burke was a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where he served as associate chair of the department of international health and director of the Center for Immunization Research. He also was principal investigator of National Institutes of Health-supported research projects on HIV vaccines, biodefense and emerging infectious diseases.
Prior to his tenure at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Burke served 23 years on active duty in the U.S. Army, leading military infectious disease research at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C., and at the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Bangkok, Thailand. He retired at the rank of colonel, with his last assignment as the Associate Director for Emerging Threats and Biotechnology at the Walter Reed Army Institute for Research.
Dr. Burke’s career-long mission has been prevention and mitigation of the impact of epidemic infectious diseases of global importance. His research activities have spanned a wide range of science “from the bench to the bush,” including development of new diagnostics, population-based field studies, clinical vaccine trials, computational modeling of epidemic control strategies and policy analysis.
Member, National Academy of Medicine; Past-president, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Thomas Francis Medal; John Snow Award; Porter Prize; Military Legion of Merit; Meritorious Service with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters; Humanitarian Service