October 2, 2007

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Director of Pediatric Infectious Disease Richard J. Whitley, M.D., will serve as leader of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA). His appointment initially as vice president was officially announced during the IDSA’s annual meeting today.

“It is an honor to serve as vice president of the IDSA,” Whitley said. “As president in two years, I will remain intensely committed to advancing the discipline of infectious diseases in medicine and insuring its stature in the medical community.”

Whitley will serve a four-year presidential term. He will serve his first year as vice president and assume the role of president elect in October 2008. He will then serve as president in 2009 and past president the following year.

Whitley is professor of pediatrics, microbiology, medicine and neurosurgery at UAB, and conducts research at the Children’s Center for Research and Innovation at Children’s Hospital. Whitley has been an active participant of the IDSA since 1981 and has served on the program committee and editorial board. Whitley is also a member of the American Association of Physicians, the Society of Pediatric Research, the American Pediatric Society, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society among numerous others. His primary research interests include pathogenesis, translation of molecular biology to clinical application and the diagnosis and treatment of herpes virus infections.