Dr William G Powderly, former Dean of Medicine & Head, UCD School of Medicine, has been named as President of the Infectious Disease Society of America (ISDA), an organisation of physicians, scientists and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting health through excellence in infectious disease research, education, prevention and patient care.
In assuming the leadership role of this prestigious organisation with over 10,000 members across the United States of America, Dr Powderly pledge to continue the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s commitment to improving the health of all people, communities and society. Several new Board members were also announced bringing expertise in areas ranging from diagnostics and HIV to compensation, paediatrics and guidelines development.
“We are reaching out to the new presidential administration and Congress to help shape their understanding of critical health care challenges and opportunities, including efforts to improve patient safety, lead cutting-edge biomedical research, strengthen public health infrastructure, advocate for patients with HIV and other infectious diseases, and guide the development of critically needed new antibiotics and diagnostics,” said Dr Powderly.
“I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on the Board who embody strong representation from women and men whose experience and perspectives reflect the diversity of our field.”
Dr Powderly said he is energized to work with the Board to promote IDSA’s strategic priorities, which include:
- Promoting the value of the infectious diseases (ID) physician
- Attracting the best and brightest to the field of infectious diseases
- Promoting leadership in antibiotic resistance and stewardship
- Producing useful, timely and relevant guidelines
- Promoting ID and HIV research and its clinical translation
- Advocating for funding of prevention and public health programs in ID and HIV
About Dr William G Powderly, MD, FIDSA
A graduate of the UCD Medicine, Professor Powderly received his MB BCh BAO in 1979 and was awarded an MD degree by the University in 1987. Bill undertook his basic medical and higher specialist training in Ireland and in the United States where he established himself as a distinguished academic clinician. He was Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases until July 2004 when he returned to Ireland.
Prof Powderly was appointed as a consultant in infectious disease medicine and the UCD Professor of Medicine & Therapeutics at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. He was appointed Dean of Medicine and Head of School at the UCD School of Medicine in 2005 and was re-appointed to this role in 2010, serving a total of 8 years as Head of Ireland’s leading Medical School. In 2008, he was appointed as the inaugural Chief Academic Officer at Dublin Academic Medical Centre, Ireland’s first academic-led health centre.
Prof Powderly returned to the United States of America in January 2013 following his appointment as the J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine and co-director of the Washington University School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases in St. Louis. He was appointed as the Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health at the Washington University in July 2013 and is an attending physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Prof Powderly has held leadership positions throughout his career in UCD and at Washington University. He was a member of the Irish Medical Council from 2006 until 2012, chairing their Professional Development Committee and was a member of the US Adult AIDS Clinical Trials Group (including Vice-Chair of the Group and chair of its Scientific Steering Committee). He has served on numerous advisory groups within the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA. Prof Powderly was the inaugural chair of the HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) in the US and was a founding member of the St. Louis Infectious Diseases Society. He is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Prof. Powderly is widely published in the areas of HIV and AIDS with over 300 original articles or book chapters. Together with Prof. Jonathan Cohen, Dean of the School of Medicine at Brighton and Sussex in the UK, he has edited a major international textbook in Infectious Diseases. His research interests include advancing care in HIV, focusing on long-term complications and antiretroviral therapy; fungal infections, especially cryptococcosis; and the translation of clinical advances to public health and public policy. Professor Powderly has a special interest in HIV care and brings a global perspective to IDSA with more than 25 years of active engagement in research to improve treatments for patients with HIV.
Bill remains a strong supporter of Irish Medical Education and has established student elective exchanges between UCD and Washington University. He and his wife Betsy are frequent visitors to Ireland and their daughter, Ailis is a second year UCD Graduate Entry Medicine student having graduated from UCD with a Bachelors of Business and Law degree in 2015.
About the Infectious Diseases Society of America
The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is an organization of physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting health through excellence in infectious diseases research, education, prevention, and patient care. The Society, which has nearly 10,000 members, was founded in 1963 and is based in Arlington, VA. For more information see here.
New IDSA Board Members
Dr. Powderly is pleased to be working with those joining the IDSA Board, including:
- Angela Caliendo, MD, PhD, FIDSA – Chair of the Microbiology Medical Devices Panel for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dr. Caliendo is professor and executive vice chair of medicine and director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I. She was the co-chair of the Clinical Laboratory & Standards Institute (CLSI) Subcommittee on Quantitative Molecular Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases, a member of the CLSI Subcommittee on Genotyping for Infectious Diseases and an advisor on the Subcommittee on Antiviral Susceptibility Testing. Dr. Caliendo is past president of both the Association of Molecular Pathology and Pan-American Society for Clinical Virology.
- Joel Gallant, MD, MPH, FIDSA – A respected expert on HIV and AIDS, Dr. Gallant has published extensively on the topic, including authoring a book for consumers, “100 Questions and Answers About HIV and AIDS.” Currently he is medical director of specialty services at Southwest CARE Center in Santa Fe, N.M. and adjunct professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore. Dr. Gallant also is professor of medicine at the University of New Mexico, Division of Infectious Diseases, Albuquerque.
- Dan McQuillen, MD, FIDSA – Dr. McQuillen is passionate about documenting the value of infectious disease specialists at the national level. He is director of the Solid Organ Transplant Infectious Disease service and senior staff physician in the Department of Infectious Diseases at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, Burlington, Mass. He is a former chair of IDSA’s Clinical Affairs Committee and current president of the Massachusetts Infectious Diseases Society. His interests include tick-associated infections, management of Clostridium difficile infection and HIV.
- Larry Pickering, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS – Long dedicated to improving health in children including by promoting the benefits of vaccination, Dr. Pickering is adjunct professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. He is the past senior advisor to the director of the National Immunization Program/National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta. Rejoining the IDSA Board after having previously served on it, Dr. Pickering also led or co-chaired panels that developed clinical practice guidelines for immunization programs and the management of infectious diarrhea. He is a past president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.
- Cindy Sears, MD, FIDSA – Dr. Sears is rejoining the Board, having previously served as treasurer. Professor of medicine and molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Dr. Sears also is an attending physician at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She is dedicated to ensuring the publication of high-quality guidelines, and previously served as vice chair of the IDSA Education and Research Foundation. Dr. Sears is interested in research on the relationship of bacteria and the microbiome to colon cancer development.
They will join members continuing their service on the Board, including:
- Paul Auwaerter, MD, MBA, FIDSA, president-elect, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore
- Johan Bakken MD, PhD, FIDSA, past president, St. Luke’s ID Associates, Duluth, Minn.
- Helen Boucher, MD, FIDSA, treasurer, Tufts Medical Center, Boston
- Henry “Chip” Chambers, MD, FIDSA, University of California, San Francisco
- Janet Englund, MD, FIDSA, Seattle Children’s Hospital
- Thomas Fekete, MD, FIDSA, Temple University Medical School, Philadelphia
- Lawrence Martinelli, MD, FIDSA, Covenant Health, Lubbock, Texas
- Thomas Moore, MD, FIDSA, IDC of Kansas, Wichita, Kan.
- Trish Perl, MD, MSc, FIDSA, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas
- David Kimberlin, MD, FIDSA, University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Keith Kaye, MD, MPH, FIDSA, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich.
