Saad Omer
Trustee
Dr. Saad B. Omer serves as the Founding Dean of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He was previously the inaugural director of the Yale Institute of Global Health and, prior to that, the William H. Foege chair in Global Health and professor of Global Health, Epidemiology & Pediatrics at Emory University, Schools of Public Health and Medicine. Dr. Omer has conducted studies in Guatemala, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and the United States. Dr. Omer’s research portfolio includes clinical trials to estimate efficacy of maternal and/or infant influenza, pertussis, polio, measles and pneumococcal vaccines and trials to evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Moreover, he has conducted several studies on interventions to increase immunization coverage and demand. Dr. Omer’s work has been cited in global and country-specific policy recommendations and has informed clinical practice and health legislation in several countries. He has mentored more than 100 junior faculty, clinical and research post-doctoral fellows, Ph.D. and other graduate students.
Dr. Omer has published approximately 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, the Lancet, British Medical Journal, Pediatrics, American Journal of Public Health and Science. Moreover, he has written op-eds for publications such as the New York Times, Politico and the Washington Post.
He has received multiple awards – including the Maurice Hilleman Award by the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases for his seminal work on the impact of maternal influenza immunization on respiratory illness in infants younger than 6 months – for whom there is no vaccine. He has served on several advisory panels including the U.S. National Vaccine Advisory Committee, the Public Health Committee of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria – Vaccine Innovation Working Group, and the World Health Organization’s Expert Advisory Group for Healthcare Worker Vaccination. Dr. Omer earned a doctorate in global disease epidemiology and control, a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, and a bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery from the Aga Khan University Medical College.
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