Michael S. Saag (born ) is a physician and prominent

HIV/AIDS research HIV/AIDS research includes all medical research that attempts to prevent, treat, or cure HIV/AIDS, as well as fundamental research about the nature of HIV as an infectious agent and AIDS as the disease caused by HIV. Transmission A body of sci ...

er at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

(UAB). He holds the Jim Straley Chair in AIDS Research, is Director of the Division of Infectious Disease and of the William C. Gorgas Center for Geographic Medicine, and Director of the Center for AIDS Research. He is also the founder of the 1917 Clinic, a comprehensive AIDS treatment and research center at UAB Saag is a frequent lecturer at AIDS conferences around the world and is credited with performing pioneering clinical trials for several antiretroviral drugs now in common use for HIV treatment and for first demonstrating the clinical value of "viral-load testing" in HIV/AIDS treatment. In 2009 Saag was elected chairman of the HIV Medicine Association of the

Infectious Diseases Society of America The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) is a medical association representing physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases. It was founded in 1963 and is based in Arlington, Virginia. ...

. In 2019 Saag began serving on the

Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) advises the White House and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on the US government's response to the AIDS epidemic. The commission was formed by President Bill Clinton in 1995 and each ...

. Saag appeared in the 2001 PBS documentary

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

describing how HIV can evolve to newer drug-resistant strains in the course of hours. He is co-author of a 2007 textbook, ''AIDS Therapy'' and editor of the ''Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy'' and the ''Sanford Guide to HIV/AIDS Therapy''. On April 14, 2014, Saag released his first book ''Positive'' published by Greenleaf Book Group, LLC.

Personal life

Saag was born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. He graduated from Ballard High School in 1973 and was a three-year starter at offensive guard and defensive tackle for the Bruins football team. He completed an undergraduate degree in chemistry at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

in 1977. He was also president of

Zeta Beta Tau Zeta Beta Tau () is a Greek-letter social fraternity based in North America. It was founded on December 29, 1898. Originally a Zionist youth society, its purpose changed from Zionism in the fraternity's early years when in 1954 the fraternity beco ...

fraternity and was a creative film maker while at the university. He graduated from medical school at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

and completed his residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in infectious diseases at UAB. Dr. Saag is married to Amy Weil Saag. His children are Andrew, Harry, and Julie. In March 2020, Dr. Saag contracted (and ultimately recovered from) COVID-19. Since his recovery, Dr. Saag has spoken out publicly about the need to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

References

1955 births Living people Physicians from Louisville, Kentucky Tulane University alumni HIV/AIDS researchers University of Alabama at Birmingham faculty University of Louisville School of Medicine alumni {{Louisville-stub