Principal Investigator | Team Member
Education
Western Reserve University: BA (1967)
Harvard Medical School: MD (1971)
Affiliations
University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh, Center for Global Health
University of Pittsburgh, Center for Vaccine Research
University of Pittsburgh, Public Health Dynamics Lab
Biography
I am the principal investigator of the NIH Models of Infectious Diseases Angent Study (MIDAS) Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh and of the Gates Foundation Vaccine Modeling Initiative (VMI). I am also a principal investigator of Project Tycho since its beginning in 2013. Since 2006, I have served as Dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) and Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Health at the University of Pittsburgh. I am also first occupant of the UPMC-Jonas Salk Chair in Global Health and a distinguished university professor of health science and policy.
A native of Cleveland, Ohio, I received my BA from Western Reserve University and my MD from Harvard Medical School. I trained in medicine at Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals and in infectious diseases at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. I served for 23 years on active duty in the US Army where I conducted research on prevention of diseases of military importance.
Throughout my professional life, I have studied prevention and control of infectious diseases of global concern, including HIV/AIDS, influenza, dengue, and emerging infectious diseases. I have lived six years in Thailand, worked extensively in Cameroon, and conducted field epidemiology and vaccine studies in numerous other developing countries. I have approached epidemic control using strategies "from the bench to the bush." I have authored or co-authored over 300 peer reviewed academic publications.
I now lead the Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, a trans-disciplinary team that develops computational models and simulations of epidemic infectious and chronic diseases and uses these simulations to evaluate prevention and control strategies. I currently serve on the Board of Health for Allegheny County (Pittsburgh). I am a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the American Epidemiological Society, and am an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Email: donburke@pitt.edu