Robert (Bob) H. Hopkins, Jr., MD (Moderator)
Medical Director, National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID)
In addition to serving as NFID chief medical spokesperson, Robert (Bob) H. Hopkins, Jr., MD, represents NFID as liaison to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He serves as an ex-officio member of the NFID Board of Directors and all Board-level committees.
As medical director, Hopkins helps to advance the NFID mission through efforts to grow NFID programs, build vaccine confidence, address health equity issues, increase awareness of disease prevention and treatment, and strengthen NFID partner collaborations. He has held many national and local leadership positions including serving as chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee to the US Department of Health and Human Services (2019-2024) and chair of the American College of Physicians Immunization Committee. Hopkins also serves as professor of internal medicine and pediatrics and is immediate past chief of the division of general internal medicine at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). His primary academic interest is clinical vaccinology with emphasis on education. He maintains an active teaching and clinical practice providing primary and consultative care to adults and children. He was recognized as a 2024 Healio Honoree as a strategic, yet humble leader who has shaped US vaccine policy and helped build vaccine confidence.
Laura E. Riley, MD
Chair, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Immunization, Infectious Disease and Public Health Preparedness Expert Work Group
A renowned obstetrician and maternal-fetal medicine specialist, Laura E. Riley, MD, serves as the obstetrician and gynecologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center and chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Weill Cornell Medicine. In her role, Riley leads the NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns and oversees obstetrics and gynecology at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, NewYork-Presbyterian Lower Manhattan Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, and NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital. Before joining NewYork-Presbyterian, she served as vice chair of obstetrics and medical director of labor and delivery at Massachusetts General Hospital. An internationally recognized expert on obstetrics and infectious diseases, she has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies to develop practice guidelines for pregnancy care of women with several emerging and emergent infections. Finally, she was the first obstetrician/gynecologist voting member of the ACIP and was active in the COVID-19 vaccine response serving on the Vaccine Safety Technical (VaST) Work Group formed to review near real-time COVID-19 vaccine safety data.
Sean T. O’Leary, MD, MPH
Chair, American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases; NFID Director
Sean T. O’Leary, MD, MPH, is a professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus and Children’s Hospital Colorado. He is also an investigator at Adult and Child Center for Outcomes Research and Delivery Science (ACCORDS) and director of the Colorado Children’s Outcomes Network (COCONet), a pediatric practice-based research network. His research focuses on prevention of vaccine-preventable diseases through understanding clinical, attitudinal, and infrastructural barriers to vaccination, and developing and testing interventions to address those barriers. O’Leary is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Council on School Health, serves as chair of the Committee on Infectious Diseases, and served for many years as a liaison to ACIP, serving on many ACIP work groups. He also serves as co-chair of the Policy Committee for Immunize Colorado and has been a speaker at the NFID Clinical Vaccinology Course since 2015. He is a member of the NFID Board of Directors.
Bruce G. Gellin, MD, MPH
Senior Advisor, Vaccine Integrity Project; Professor of Medicine (Adjunct), Georgetown University School of Medicine; Senior Advisor, Georgetown University Global Health Institute
Bruce G. Gellin, MD, MPH, an internist, infectious disease specialist, and epidemiologist, is professor of medicine (adjunct) in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Georgetown University School of Medicine and a senior advisor to Georgetown University’s Global Health Institute. He also serves as a senior advisor to the Center for Infectious Diseases Research and Policy’s (CIDRAP) Vaccine Integrity Project based at the University of Minnesota. His career in global public health has focused on translating evidence into action, ensuring equitable access to vaccines and medicines, and developing programs and policies to address infectious disease threats. Gellin previously served as senior vice president and chief of global public health strategy at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he led the foundation’s response to COVID-19 including strengthening the global early warning system for detecting pandemics and supporting equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. As president of global immunization at the Sabin Vaccine Institute, he worked to expand vaccine access and innovation. At the US Department of Health and Human Services, he was deputy assistant secretary for health and director of the National Vaccine Program Office, spearheading the first Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan and establishing the President’s Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.