Michael H Merson

Clinical Professor of Global and Environmental Health

Professional overview

Michael Merson is a Clinical Professor of Global and Environmental Health at NYU and the William Joklik Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Global Health at Duke University, where he served as the founding director of the Duke Global Health Institute and as Vice President and Vice Provost for Global Affairs. His current research is focused on policy issues related to the response to pandemics, evaluating the rollout of Paxlovid in low-income countries and on ways to regain trust in public health.

Prior to NYU, he joined the faculty at Yale University as its first Dean of Public Health. Before entering academia, between 1980 and 1995, Dr. Merson served as director of the World Health Organization (WHO) programs on Diarrheal Diseases and Acute Respiratory Infections, and subsequently the WHO Global Program on AIDS. He has authored over 150 articles, is the senior editor of a leading global health textbook “Global Health: Disease, Programs, Systems, and Policies” and lead author of The AIDS Pandemic: Searching for a Global Response on the history of the global response to AIDS. He has served in advisory capacities for UNAIDS, WHO, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, World Bank, World Economic Forum, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and was an advisor to various private sector entities on the COVID-19 pandemic. He has two honorary degrees and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Education

B.A., 1966, cum laude, Amherst College, Amherst, Massachusetts

M.D., 1970, summa cum laude, SUNY, Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn, New York

Honors and awards

Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) Distinguished Leadership Award (2018)

Duke Medical Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Award (2017)

Master Teacher Award in Preventive Medicine, Downstate Medical Center (2010)

Outstanding Contribution to the Campaign Against HIV/AIDS, Russian Association Against AIDS (2000)

Connecticut Health Commissioner’s AIDS Leadership Award (1998)

Connecticut Health Commissioner’s AIDS Leadership Award (1997)

Frank Babbott Alumni Award (1995)

Surgeon General's Exemplary Service Medal (1993)

Commendation Medal, US Public Health Service; (1986)

Arthur S. Flemming Award for Outstanding Federal Service (1983)

Commendation Medal, US Public Health Service (1975)

Publications

Publications

Rethinking pandemic metrics: are composite indices enough?

Low antibody levels associated with significantly increased rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in a highly vaccinated population from the US National Basketball Association

The "Bubble": What Can Be Learned from the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2019-20 Season Restart in Orlando during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reinfection: A Case Series From a 12-Month Longitudinal Occupational Cohort

World Health Organization and knowledge translation in maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition

Chinese medical teams in Africa: A flagship program facing formidable challenges

Drivers of the reduction in childhood diarrhea mortality 1980-2015 and interventions to eliminate preventable diarrhea deaths by 2030

Evolution of the world health organization's programmatic actions to control diarrheal diseases

Factors associated with the decline in under-five diarrhea mortality in India: A LiST analysis

Introductory commentary: a strategic review of options for building on lessons learnt from IMCI and iCCM

Corporate citizenship, aids and Africa

Global hearing health care: new findings and perspectives

Partnership Conference

The AIDS pandemic: Searching for a global response

The Future Role of the United States in Global Health: Emphasis on Cardiovascular Disease

Research in action: From AIDS to global health to impact. A symposium in recognition of the scientific contributions of Professor Joep Lange

University engagement in global health

The president's Emergency Plan for AIDS relief: From successes of the emergency response to challenges of sustainable action

Informing the 2011 UN session on noncommunicable diseases: Applying lessons from the AIDS response

Perspective: Global medicine: Opportunities and challenges for academic health science systems

Surgical capacity building in uganda through twinning, technology, and training camps

Two-year impacts on employment and income among adults receiving antiretroviral therapy in Tamil Nadu, India: A cohort study

A summary of the literature on global hearing impairment: Current status and priorities for action

Results of the NIMH collaborative HIV/Sexually transmitted disease prevention trial of a community popular opinion leader intervention

Diagnosis of Acute HIV infection in Connecticut