NFID Announces 2023-2024 Board of Directors

Bethesda, MD (July 11, 2023)—The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin A. Ault, MD (Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine), Oliver T. Brooks, MD (Watts Healthcare Corporation), and Flor M. Munoz, MD, MSc (Baylor College of Medicine) to the 2023-2024 NFID Board of Directors. In addition, Julie Morita, MD (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) has been reappointed to serve an additional three-year term through June 2026.

Kevin A. Ault, MD, is a professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine. He recently completed a term on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), during which ACIP made multiple recommendations concerning COVID-19 vaccines in adults, adolescents, and children. He served as an author of the 2023 adult, adolescent, and pediatric US immunization schedules, which include recommendations for maternal immunization and adult hepatitis B vaccination. Ault has been an investigator in a wide variety of translational and clinical research involving maternal immunization, vaginitis, gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and human papillomavirus (HPV). Recent research projects include HPV vaccine development and immunology, maternal immunization, and inequities in vaccine uptake.

Oliver T. Brooks, MD, is interim chief executive officer, chief medical officer, and past chief of pediatric and adolescent medicine at Watts Healthcare Corporation. He is a medical director consultant for LA Care Health Plan. Brooks is past president of the National Medical Association (NMA), and is a current Board member and past president of the California Immunization Coalition, as well as chair of the Immunize LA Families Coalition. In July 2022, he was appointed to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). He was co-chair of the California State COVID-19 Vaccine Development Work Group, and is past chair of the California Primary Care Association (CPCA) Clinician Committee. His areas of expertise include coronaviruses, health disparities, and vaccine confidence.

Flor M. Munoz, MD, MSc, is an associate professor of pediatrics, infectious diseases, molecular virology, and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, and director of transplant infectious diseases at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, TX. She is a physician-scientist with research activities focusing on the evaluation of vaccine safety and efficacy in pregnant women, children, and people with compromised immune systems, as well as the epidemiology and treatment of infectious diseases in these special populations. She is a chair of the institutional review board at Baylor College of Medicine. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as co-chair of the maternal immunization working group of COVAX-Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and chair of the maternal immunization working group of the National Institutes of Health Infectious Disease Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC). She currently leads the special populations workstream of the CEPI-Safety Platform for Emergency vACcines (SPEAC) project, and contributes to various projects supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and World Health Organization to address infectious disease prevention to improve the health of women and children.

The complete list of the 2023-2024 NFID Board of Directors is below. This esteemed group of leaders in public health officially began responsibilities on July 1, 2023. As the governing body, the Board of Directors establishes the strategic direction for NFID, ensures that annual goals are met, and provides financial oversight.

The NFID Board of Directors also expresses appreciation to outgoing Directors Cristina Cassetti, PhD (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health), Tamera Coyne-Beasley, MD, MPH (University of Alabama at Birmingham), and S. Shaefer Spires, MD (Duke University Hospital), for their contributions to NFID.

2023-2024 NFID Board of Directors

• Kevin A. Ault, MD, Western Michigan University Homer Stryker MD School of Medicine
• Oliver T. Brooks, MD, Watts Healthcare Corporation
• Sara E. Cosgrove, MD, MS, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Monica M. Farley, MD, Emory University School of Medicine
• Jeffery A. Goad, PharmD, MPH (NFID President-Elect), Chapman University School of Pharmacy
• Jean-Venable R. Goode, PharmD, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Kathleen H. Harriman, PhD, MPH, RN, California Department of Public Health
• Orin S. Levine, PhD, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Former)
• Ruth Lynfield, MD (NFID Secretary), Minnesota Department of Health
• Julie Morita, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
• Flor M. Munoz, MD, MSc, Baylor College of Medicine
• Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH (NFID Vice President), Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Kevin Rooney (NFID Treasurer), Beacon Consulting Group
• Patricia A. Stinchfield, RN, MS, CPNP (NFID President), University of Minnesota School of Nursing
• Patricia N. Whitley-Williams, MD (NFID Immediate Past-President), Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Ex-Officio:

• Marla Dalton, PE, CAE, NFID Executive Director & CEO
• Robert H. Hopkins, Jr., MD, NFID Medical Director

About the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases

Founded in 1973, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to educating and engaging the public, communities, and healthcare professionals about infectious diseases across the lifespan. For additional information, visit www.nfid.org.

Contact: Diana Olson at dolson@nfid.org