German Henostroza, M.D., (left) discusses a case with Matt Gravett, M.D., (right), a UAB Resident in the travel medicine course in Lima, Peru.German Henostroza, M.D., has been named director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham William Crawford Gorgas Center for Geographic Medicine following the retirement of David O. Freedman, M.D.
“The Gorgas Center along with the Gorgas Memorial Institute at UAB are internationally renowned for their educational efforts — and with great reason,” said Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., director of the UAB Division of Infectious Diseases. “One of our educational flagships is the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine. Students who take the tropical medicine course have been universally successful in achieving certification in this subspecialty, and become resources for care and education around the world. Dr. Henostroza is the perfect person to take the center into its next decade.”
Born in Peru, Henostroza did his fellowship in infectious diseases at UAB and then went to work in Zambia leading several UAB international initiatives. He came back to Birmingham in August 2015 to continue his international work. Since, he has served as the UAB director of the Gorgas Course in Clinical Tropical Medicine. The course is a partnership between UAB and the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, training more than 880 physicians in tropical medicine over the last 22 years. Many of the alumni have become prominent leaders in the travel medicine field.
With the sponsorship of the Gorgas Memorial Institute, Henostroza oversees the Gorgas Scholarship Award, which supports international patient care and clinical experience for UAB medical students, residents, and the UAB-Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia Gorgas pilot grants for collaborative work between Peruvian and UAB investigators in tropical diseases.
Henostroza’s research interests focus on tuberculosis point of care diagnostics, TB clinical trials, TB vaccine clinical trials and health systems implementation in vulnerable populations with an emphasis in prisoners. His current programs are located in Zambia, Panama, Peru, Antigua and Barbuda.