UM SOM Scientist Elected as Fellow of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Robert Edelman Recognized for His Work in Tropical Medicine and Global Health

Robert Edelman, MD, a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM), has been elected as a Fellow by the Board of Directors of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH). This honor was awarded for his sustained professional excellence in tropical medicine, hygiene, global health, and related disciplines.

Dr. Edelman was formally recognized at an ASTMH awards ceremony on Sunday, November 5 in Baltimore.

"Dr. Edelman is an icon in the field of infectious diseases and vaccines. This recognition from the ASTMH is well deserved," said Kathleen Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) at UM SOM.

Since 1988, Dr. Edelman has been a senior consultant on vaccine development in the CVD. His projects include research in the biotechnology industry, major pharmaceutical houses, the World Health Organization (WHO), for the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the Department of Defense, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the Gates Foundation's Malaria Vaccine Initiative and Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative.

Dr. Edelman served as the Associate Director for Clinical Research at the CVD from 1988 until 2011, when he became the Associate Director for Regulatory Affairs and Bioethics. His experience includes leading clinical trials for experimental vaccines, licensed vaccines, and biologicals against a variety of infectious diseases for adult and pediatric volunteers. He is a recognized expert in clinical trials of vaccine adjuvants. He was a member of the WHO Advisory Committee on Dengue and other Flavivirus vaccines for five years and directed the UM SOM Travelers’ Health Practice for 20 years.

Dr. Edelman also served as Chairman of the UM Institutional Review Board (IRB) for nine years and currently serves as IRB Vice-chair. He initiated and directs the Clinical Research Training and Mentoring Program at UMB.

“Dr. Edelman is one of the reasons we are considered among the top Centers for Vaccine Development in the world,” said E. Albert Reece, MD, PhD, MBA, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “He also continues to serve in an important role on the Institutional Review Board.”

About the University of Maryland School of Medicine

Commemorating its 210th Anniversary, the University of Maryland School of Medicine was chartered in 1807 as the first public medical school in the United States. It continues today as one of the fastest growing, top-tier biomedical research enterprises in the world -- with 43 academic departments, centers, institutes, and programs; and a faculty of more than 3,000 physicians, scientists, and allied health professionals, including members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, and a distinguished recipient of the Albert E. Lasker Award in Medical Research. With an operating budget of more than $1 billion, the School of Medicine works closely in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and Medical System to provide research-intensive, academic and clinically-based care for more than 1.2 million patients each year. The School has over 2,500 students, residents, and fellows, and nearly $450 million in extramural funding, with more than half of its academic departments ranked in the top 20 among all public medical schools in the nation in research funding. As one of the seven professional schools that make up the University of Maryland, Baltimore campus, the School of Medicine has a total workforce of nearly 7,000 individuals. The combined School and Medical System (“University of Maryland Medicine”) has a total budget of $5 billion and an economic impact of nearly $15 billion on the state and local community. The School of Medicine faculty, which ranks as the 8th-highest public medical school in research productivity, is an innovator in translational medicine with 600 active patents and 24 start-up companies. The School works locally, nationally, and globally, with research and treatment facilities in 36 countries around the world. Visit medschool.umaryland.edu/

About the Center for Vaccine Development

Since its inception in 1974, the CVD has worked to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. The CVD has created and tested vaccines against cholera, typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, non-typhoidal salmonella disease, shigellosis (bacillary dysentery), Escherichia coli diarrhea, nosocomial pathogens, tularemia, influenza, and other infectious diseases. Learn more about the CVD.

Learn More

• American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH)

• UM SOM Department of Pediatrics

• UM SOM Department of Medicine