The Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology of the New York University School of Medicine and its affiliated hospitals have a long history of leadership in infectious disease clinical care, research, and public health. Our work stems from a rich history of being among the first to report unusual cases of infections thirty years ago that later became known as AIDS.
But our story actually begins much earlier when in 1866, NYU professors of medicine produced a report for the Council of Hygiene and Public Health leading to establishment of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Two years later, Stephen Smith, an NYU faculty member was appointed New York City’s first commissioner of public health and subsequently founded the American Public Health Association in 1872.
Continuing the maintenance of the public health in NYC and beyond, NYU clinicians reported tuberculosis as a preventable illness and were central in creating a local response to the epidemic of TB with the creation of the “Chest Service” by NYU pulmonologists in 1903.
Still on the vanguard of epidemic infections in New York and the world, NYU played a major role in the identification of Acquired Immunodeficiency Sydrome (AIDS) in the early 1980s by linking early cases of Kaposi’s Sarcoma to the dawn if the epidemic. Subsequently, the NYU/Bellevue AIDS Clinical Trials Unit produced cutting edge clinical research in the use of Highly Active Anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) resulting in the transformation of HIV disease to a chronic and manageable disease. Continuing to add to the knowledge of these infections, investigators in the Infectious Disease division continue to tackle the pathogenesis, immunology, and treatment of TB and HIV.
Beyond these infections, NYU has continued to explore biomedical approaches to preventing infection. Both Jonas Salk, the inventor of the first polio vaccine and Albert Sabin, the inventor of the live polio vaccine graduated from NYU School of Medicine in the 1930s. In 1980, Saul Krugman developed the first Hepatitis B vaccine, a strategy that led to the first vaccine against a cancer-causing agent. NYU continues to be a leader in vaccinology with significant clinical and basic research in HIV vaccine development.
Our faculty play crucial roles in understanding antimicrobial resistance through the work of innovative investigators like Drs. Bo Shopsin and Richard Novik; exploring the immunology of infection in the labs of Drs. Derya Unutmaz and Nina Bhardwaj with co-investigators Dr. Elizabeth Miller and Dr. Meagan O’Brien; incorporating best infection control and antibiotic usage policies through the leadership of Drs. Michael Phillips, Sapna Mehta (Tisch Hospital) and Dr. Harold Horowitz (Bellevue Hospital), investigating the microbiome and its interaction with the host in Dr. Martin Blaser’s laboratory; advancing global health such as with the Bomu Clinic in Kenya under the direction of Dr. Sumathi Sivapalasingam; exploring risk and HIV prevention strategies with the Men’s Sexual Health Project under the direction of Dr. Demetre Daskalakis; and providing outstanding care to patients suffering from bacterial, viral, parasitic, mycobacterial and fungal infections under the leadership of section chiefs Drs. Jeffrey Greene (Tisch), Melanie Maslow (VA), Harold Horowitz (Bellevue), and Director of our division, Dr. Judith Aberg (Bellevue).
Such leaders also serve pivotal roles in the advanced education of medical students, residents, and fellows pursuing knowledge in Infectious Disease science and care. Frequently recognized for its teaching, the Infectious Disease faculty continue to both generate and teach the knowledge needed to deal with the contemporary challenges of both global and local infectious disease.
Division of Infectious Diseases Phone: 212-263-6400
