Saad B. Omer

Founding Dean, Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health, University of Texas, Southwestern

Saad B. Omer is the founding Dean of the Peter O'Donnell Jr. School of Public Health at the University of Texas Southwestern. He was previously the Director of the Yale Institute for Global Health and Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at Yale School of Public Health. Dr Omer received his medical degree, MBBS, from The Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan and received his MPH and PhD in Global Disease Epidemiology and Control from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America.

Dr Omer’s research portfolio includes epidemiology of respiratory viruses such as influenza, RSV, and SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19); clinical trials to estimate efficacy of maternal and/or infant vaccines; and trials to evaluate drug regimens to reduce mother-to-child transmission of HIV. He has conducted several studies on interventions to increase immunisation coverage and acceptance. His work has also included public health preparedness strategies to effectively respond to large emerging and re-emerging infectious disease outbreaks.

Dr Omer is a member of the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, the Co-Chair of the Lancet Commission on Vaccine Hesitancy in the US, a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccines for the Novel Coronavirus, serves on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (NVAC) Working Group for Vaccine Hesitancy and is on the Board of Trustees for the Sabin Vaccine Institute.