Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Center for Infectious Diseases Research
Nelson L. Michael, M.D., Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases Research. Dr. Michael graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1979 with a degree in biology and from Stanford University with and M.D. and Ph.D. (cancer biology) degrees in 1986. He trained in internal medicine at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital from 1986-1989.
Prior to his current position, Dr. Michael served for 29 years in the U.S. Army at WRAIR including 12 years as the Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP) at WRAIR and 8 months as the WRAIR Deputy Commander. Dr. Michael retired from the U.S. Army on 30 September 2018 at the rank of Colonel.
MHRP is an international successfully integrates HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment. Dr. Michael guided MHRP through the completion of the RV144 HIV prime-boost vaccine study. This clinical trial, an international collaboration that involved more than 16,000 Thai volunteers, provided the world’s first demonstration that a preventive HIV vaccine was possible. Dr. Michael entered his Army service in 1989 in WRAIR's Department of Vaccine Research, Division of Retrovirology, and later served as the Chief of the Department of Molecular Diagnostics and Pathogenesis.
Dr. Michael served on President Obama’s Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues (2009- 2016), the Vaccine Research Center Scientific Advisory Working Group (NIAID, NIH), Office of AIDS Research Advisory Committee (NIH), AIDS Research Advisory Committee (NIAID, NIH), AIDS Vaccine Research Working Group (DAIDS, NIAID and NIH), Center for HIV/AIDS Vaccine Immunology Scientific Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of the Global HIV AIDS Vaccine Enterprise.
Dr. Michael's research interests include SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, HIV molecular pathogenesis and host genetics, HIV clinical research and HIV/Ebola/MERS Co-V and ZIKV vaccine development. He is a Professor of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine. He serves as a peer reviewer of many scientific journals and is the author or co-author of more than 380 scientific publications and eight textbooks. Honors include Army Commendation Medal (1992, 1996), the Joint Service Commendation Medal (2013), Army Achievement Medal (1996, 2018), Army Meritorious Service Medal (2004, 2010, 2018), the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (2013), Legion of Merit (2018) and the Hero of Military Medicine (Army) Award (2013).