Carlos del Rio, MD, FIDSA, Named IDSA President

The Infectious Diseases Society of America is pleased to announce Carlos del Rio, MD, FIDSA, as the Society’s new president beginning Oct. 24. Joining Dr. del Rio will be a team of dedicated, experienced and diverse board members and newly elected representatives who will lead IDSA’s ongoing commitment to promote excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases.

“As we face new infectious diseases challenges, from COVID to monkeypox and beyond, the role and value of physicians and scientists specializing in infectious diseases only grows,” Dr. del Rio said. “It is an honor to represent ID experts who have been on the front lines in discovery, patient care and public health during unprecedented outbreaks and continue to work to prevent future threats.”

Dr. del Rio will also work with the Board of Directors to advance the Society’s strategic priorities. These include advocating for policy and regulatory solutions to address the antimicrobial resistance crisis and increasing recognition of the value of ID specialists, including championing policies and programs to achieve fair compensation and attract the next generation of increasingly diverse physicians and scientists to the field.

Dr. del Rio is the Leon L. Haley Jr., MD, distinguished professor of medicine at Emory School of Medicine, professor of global health and epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University and executive associate dean of Emory at Grady Health System. He is also co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research and co-principal investigator of the Emory-CDC HIV Clinical Trials Unit and the Emory Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit.

He is deeply committed to trainee education and the development of the next generation of ID and HIV leaders and is passionate about recruiting more underrepresented minorities into the field and eliminating gender disparities in salary and opportunities. He has served the Society throughout his career, including as chair of IDSA’s HIV Medicine Association and as a past member of the board.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. del Rio has been a leader locally and nationally advising municipal, state and national leaders, doing research, developing policies, writing scientific publications and making numerous media appearances.

Dr. del Rio was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2013 and in 2020 was elected as its international secretary. In 2021, Dr. del Rio was honored by the Carnegie Corporation of New York as a “Great Immigrant, Great American,” and in 2022, he was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. del Rio is the first Hispanic to serve as IDSA president.

New IDSA Board Members
Dr. del Rio is pleased to be working with newly elected IDSA Board members including:

Jeff Duchin, MD, FIDSA, FACP, was elected to serve as secretary of the board and on the Executive Committee. He is the health officer for public health in Seattle and King County, Washington, and professor of medicine in the Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the University of Washington, Seattle. He currently serves as IDSA liaison to the U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as a member of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and on CDC’s Board of Scientific Counselors. He also serves on the National Academy of Medicine’s Standing Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases and 21st Century Health Threats and is an active media spokesperson for IDSA. His previous experience on the Board of Directors fuels his desire to collaborate with key public health stakeholders and partners to advance IDSA’s strategic priorities and help the organization support its priority of inclusion, diversity, access and equity.
Rajesh Gandhi, MD, FIDSA,is the HIVMA representative to the board. He is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, director of HIV clinical services and education at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-director of the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research. His expertise has been recognized through clinical guideline panel appointments, including the Department of Health and Human Services HIV Antiretroviral Guidelines Panel, the International Antiviral Society-USA HIV Guidelines Panel, and the National Institutes of Health and the IDSA COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines panels. He has served as deputy editor of Journal Watch ID and associate editor of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Gandhi plans to use his experience as past chair of HIVMA to bring his clinical, research and policy insights to the board.

Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP, was elected to serve as the board’s vice president and as a member of the Executive Committee. She is professor of pediatrics at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, medical director of the International Patient and Destination Services Program, medical director of the International Adoptee Clinic and medical co-director of the Travel Medicine Clinic at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She has been a member of the Antibiotic Use and Clinical Trials Committee and served in leadership roles on the IDWeek Program Committee, which has helped her lead the way in how IDSA addresses issues of compensation and workforce shortages. She has served as an IDSA Board member and as a media spokesperson for IDSA and currently serves as the chair of the IDA&E Committee, which was instrumental in developing the IDA&E guiding principles and roadmap for IDSA to implement at all levels of the organization. Dr. Tan also has been a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases. She is a thought leader on antimicrobial resistance and is passionate about mentoring trainees, providing access to care and improving equity. She hopes to bring her focus on advocacy, diversity and inclusion — especially for infants, children and pregnant women — to efforts to improve health disparities in her work on the board.
Robin Trotman, DO, FIDSA, is medical director of Infection Prevention Services and Antimicrobial Stewardship at CoxHealth in Springfield, Missouri. He also serves as the medical director of the CoxHealth Clinical Research Department and is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Missouri-Springfield campus. He has been the primary investigator on drug and device studies through CoxHealth and taught ID/HIV/virology undergraduates at Missouri State University. He has previously served on the Clinical Affairs Committee and has presented on behalf of the committee at IDWeek and at other professional society meetings. He regularly attends and presents at the annual IDSA Fellows’ meetings and has led two annual compensation surveys. Dr. Trotman is deeply invested in efforts to demonstrate the value of infectious diseases clinicians and hopes to translate analyses, tools and education into meaningful interventions that highlight the profession’s indispensable role in health care.
Bonnie Word, MD, FIDSA, is medical director at Houston Travel Medicine Clinic. Her career has focused on addressing the prevention and treatment of HIV through participation in pediatric AIDS clinical trial group protocols and on the need to properly compensate ID physicians for their work. Her experience in identifying ways to code and bill for the work of ID doctors in the late 1990s ignited her interest in compensation and reimbursement in addition to supporting efforts to demonstrate the value of ID physicians. Her interest in travel medicine blossomed after collaborating with adult ID colleagues. She has been a charter member and board member of IDSA’s George W. Counts Interest Group focusing on infectious diseases that disproportionately affect minority and underserved populations. Dr. Word has helped the Immunization Work Group develop policy principles to improve immunization coverage and has served as a member of the Clinical Practice Governance Task Force, Physician Compensation Task Force and the Physician Negotiation Education & Training Work Group. She is committed to helping IDSA promote and maintain its stated mission, strategic priorities and initiatives.

In addition to Drs. del Rio, Tan and Duchin, the IDSA Executive Committee includes President-Elect Steve Schmitt, MD, FIDSA, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio; Treasurer Jeanne Marrazzo, MD, MPH, FIDSA, , University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; and Immediate Past-President Daniel McQuillen, MD, FIDSA, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts.

Members continuing their service on the board include:

Lilian M. Abbo, MD, FIDSA, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida;
Adaora A. Adimora, MD, MPH, FIDSA, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, North Carolina;
Cesar A. Arias, MD, MSc, PhD, FIDSA, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas;
Maximo O. Brito, MD, MPH, FIDSA, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois;
Rana Chakraborty, MD, MSc, DPhil, FIDSA, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota;
Jasmine Marcelin, MD, FIDSA, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska.

About IDSA
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a community of more than 12,000 physicians, scientists and public health experts who specialize in infectious diseases. Its purpose is to improve the health of individuals, communities and society by promoting excellence in patient care, education, research, public health and prevention relating to infectious diseases. Learn more at https://www.idsociety.org/.