Judith Wasserheit

Judith N. Wasserheit, MD, MPH, has worked extensively at the interface of STI and HIV clinical-epidemiological research, programs and policy in the U.S. and globally. She is the Chair of the University of Washington’s Department of Global Health, and Professor of Global Health, Medicine, and Epidemiology. She was the founding chief of the NIH’s STD Research Branch; Director of the CDC’s STD Prevention Program, and Director of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, the largest global clinical trials platform evaluating preventive HIV vaccines. Her research has included one of the first laparoscopic studies of pelvic inflammatory disease etiology conducted in the US, the first population-based study of the prevalence and etiologic spectrum of STDs among rural women in the Indian Subcontinent, and research on the interrelationships between STDs and contraceptive practices in other parts of the developing world, including Bangladesh, Egypt, and Indonesia. She has also worked in Colombia, Kenya, Thailand and Zambia. Her development of the concept of epidemiological synergy between HIV infection and other STDs has had a major influence on HIV prevention policy and programs around the world.

Dr. Wasserheit has broad experience working successfully with national and international agencies, governments, and colleagues on STD and HIV research, policy and programmatic issues. She has led or served on numerous World Health Organization and UNAIDS committees and advisory groups. Her honors include the U.S. DHHS Presidential Meritorious Rank Award, the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Edward E. Kass Award, and the American Social Health Association’s Presidential Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow in the American College of Physicians, a Paul Rogers Society Global Health Research Ambassador, a founding member and past chair of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health.