Ali S. Khan is an American practicing physician and former Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) at the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

. Since July 2014, he has served as Dean of the College of Public Health and Retired Assistant Surgeon General at the

University of Nebraska Medical Center The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) is a public academic health science center in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded in 1869 and chartered as a private medical college in 1881, UNMC became part of the University of Nebraska System in 1902. R ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

Education

Ali Khan received his

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

from the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, NY, and completed a joint residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. He later went on to pursue a Masters of Public Health (MPH) from

Emory University Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1836 as "Emory College" by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory, Emory is the second-oldest private institution of ...

Career

Khan’s federal career began in 1991 when he joined CDC and the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

Commissioned Corps as an

Epidemic Intelligence Service The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work. History Creation ...

(EIS) officer. Dr. Khan has focused his career on bioterrorism, global health, and emerging infectious diseases. While serving as the interim Director for CDC’s global infectious disease activities, he designed CDC’s joint global field

epidemiology Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...

and

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratory services are provided in a variety of settings: physicia ...

training program. Dr. Khan helped design and implement the

President's Malaria Initiative The President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) is a U.S. Government initiative to control and eliminate malaria, one of the leading global causes of premature death and disability. The initiative was originally launched by U.S. president George W. Bush ...

, a $1.2 billion, five-year project to reduce the burden of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and relieve poverty in Africa. He has also been engaged in

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

and

guinea worm eradication Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is an infection by the Guinea worm. In 1986, there were an estimated 3.5 million cases of Guinea worm in 20 endemic nations in Asia and Africa. Ghana alone reported 180,000 cases in 1989. The number of ...

. Additionally, Khan proposed the BioPHusion program as a new

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

initiative to improve knowledge exchange for all public health practitioners. BioPHusion was used during the

H1N1 pandemic The 2009 swine flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 influenza virus and declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) from June 2009 to August 2010, is the third recent flu pandemic involving the H1N1 virus (the first being the 1918–1920 Span ...

to identify emerging cases and plan response actions. Khan’s initial work in emergency preparedness started in 1999 when he helped establish CDC’s bioterrorism program, which upgraded local, state, and national public health systems to detect and rapidly respond to bioterrorism. As deputy director of the bioterrorism program, Khan created the Critical Agent list, which has remained the basis for all biological terrorism preparedness. Dr. Khan also published the first national public health preparedness plan, initiated syndrome based surveillance, and designed key focus areas to improve local and State capacities to respond to emergencies. Khan used these preparedness efforts during the first

anthrax attack The 2001 anthrax attacks, also known as Amerithrax (a portmanteau of "America" and " anthrax", from its FBI case name), occurred in the United States over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001, one week after the September 11 ...

in 2001, during which he directed the CDC operational response in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Prior to becoming Director of PHPR in August 2010, Dr. Khan served as Deputy Director of CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic

Infectious Diseases An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable dise ...

(NCEZID). He has responded to and led numerous domestic and international public health emergencies, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome,

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

hemorrhagic fever,

monkeypox Monkeypox (also called mpox by the WHO) is an infectious viral disease that can occur in humans and some other animals. Symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and a rash that forms blisters and then crusts over. The time from exposure to ...

, Rift Valley fever, avian influenza, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the

Asian tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

, and the initial public health response to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. In 2016 Khan published ''The Next Pandemic: On the Front Lines Against Humankind’s Gravest Dangers'' (with William Patrick). In it he recounts some of his experiences responding to outbreaks all over the world, including many of those mentioned above. Besides his personal experiences, he also provides a great deal of background information for readers interested in public health and emerging diseases.Khan, Ali S. & Patrick, William. (2016). “The Next Pandemic.” New York: PublicAffairs.

References

External links

Khan's "Public Health Matters" blog

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ali S. American Muslims American public health doctors Living people Centers for Disease Control and Prevention people American people of Indian descent Rollins School of Public Health alumni University of Michigan alumni SUNY Downstate Medical Center alumni Year of birth missing (living people) United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps admirals