About the Speaker

Saad B. Omer, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., is an internationally recognized epidemiologist known for his evidence-based approaches to tackle community health problems and improve lives. He serves as Dean of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. School of Public Health. 

Dr. Omer, who holds the Lyda Hill Deanship of the School of Public Health, has studied the epidemiology of respiratory viruses and worked on clinical trials to estimate the efficacy of maternal and/or infant vaccines. He also has helped evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV and conducted several studies on interventions to increase immunization coverage. 

His work has included public health preparedness strategies to effectively respond to large emerging and reemerging infectious disease outbreaks. Cited in global and country-specific policies, his recommendations have informed clinical practice and health legislation in several countries. Dr. Omer has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, The Lancet, Cell, Science, and Nature. He also has written op-eds for publications such as The New York Times, Politico, and The Washington Post.  

Among his honors, Dr. Omer received the Maurice R. Hilleman Early-Stage Career Investigator Award from the National Foundation of Infectious Diseases for his work on maternal immunization. He is a member of the World Health Organization Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on the Vaccine Alliance Board.  He also is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and, in 2022, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. 

Dr. Omer previously served as the inaugural Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health and Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, and his M.P.H. and Ph.D. in global disease epidemiology and control from Johns Hopkins University.