RONALD G. NAHASS, MD, FIDSA
Vice Chair, IDSA Foundation
Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, is the President of ID Care, the largest healthcare organization providing infectious diseases specialty services in New Jersey, with 100 clinicians practicing across more than 130 sites. Dr. Nahass has served the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) as Chair of the Quality Committee and served as a member of several other groups, including the Clinical Affairs Committee, Value and Governance Task Force, and IDSA/American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Hepatitis C Guidelines Committee. He was awarded the Distinguished Physician Humanitarian Award in 2008 by the Princeton HealthCare System for his work with HIV/AIDS patients and received the Watanakunakorn Clinician Award in 2020.
Dr. Nahass is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and serves as a mentor for medical students in their patient-centered medical home experience and for clinical research. He is also a preceptor for the residents’ medical clinic and has received the Volunteer Faculty Award from RWJMS several times for his service and commitment to teaching. Dr. Nahass is passionate about the value and importance of infectious disease specialty and the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care to promote health. Throughout his career, he has been a leader and advocate of promoting these issues, not only as an engaged member of society and the community but also in numerous publications and public presentations. He looks forward to fostering and advancing the message of clinical excellence, collegiality, competitive compensation, and career opportunities he has vigorously championed at ID Care.
WENDY ARMSTRONG, MD, FIDSA
Vice Chair, IDSA Foundation
Wendy S. Armstrong, MD, FIDSA, is an active clinician providing inpatient general and transplant ID care and outpatient HIV care. She has been part of the vibrant community of infectious diseases/HIV physicians for more than 25 years. Dr. Armstrong serves as a professor of medicine and associate division director at Emory University School of Medicine and is a passionate advocate for addressing the ID/HIV workforce, including clinicians, educators, physician-scientists and public health experts.
She has actively participated in numerous Society committees and initiatives, working to develop programs and support policies that ensure access to high-quality health care for all patients. Her involvement includes significant contributions to the HIVMA Board of Directors, the IDSA Medical Education Community of Practice, the IDWeek Program Committee and other IDSA committees and task forces. She has played a pivotal role in collaborations that magnify the impact of IDSA and HIVMA. Dr. Armstrong’s dedication to her field has provided her with a professional home where she feels a strong sense of belonging.
She aims to implement the IDSA workforce strategy to support the current workforce, including advanced practice providers and international medical graduates, and to inspire trainees to enter the profession. She aims to address workload and compensation issues, strengthen the diversity of the membership, bolster pandemic preparedness (including addressing antimicrobial resistance) and work toward health care equity. Dr. Armstrong is determined to ensure that all members feel the same sense of community and belonging that she has experienced.
MAXIMO O BRITO, MD, MPH, FIDSA
Secretary and Treasurer, IDSA Foundation
Maximo O. Brito, MD, MPH, FIDSA, is a professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. He served as Program Director for the ID fellowship at the University of Illinois for over 10 years.
A member of the IDSA Board of Directors since 2021, Dr. Brito has also served on the HIVMA Clinical Fellowship Program Committee, the IDSA Global Health Committee, and the Training Program Directors Committee. Dr. Brito specializes in the care of patients with infectious diseases, particularly individuals living with or at risk of acquiring HIV. His current scholarly interests center around HIV prevention including rapid antiretroviral start and improving retention in care for people experiencing incarceration. Dr. Brito is committed to furthering IDSA’s national and global advocacy priorities for the ID field and patients, as well as contributing to IDSA’s education and mentoring initiatives. He is also eager to advance IDSA’s commitment to fostering a new generation of diverse healthcare workers and leaders.
Rana Chakraborty, MD, D.PHIL
Director, IDSA Foundation
Rana Chakraborty, M.D., D.Phil., is a pediatric infectious diseases specialist and researcher with unique expertise in placental and fetal immunology. He studies the impact of maternal infection on exposed infants and characterizes and publishes about infection of trophoblasts, cord blood and placental macrophages with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1), cytomegalovirus (CMV), Toxoplasma gondii, the Zika virus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).
Dr. Chakraborty has also served as a leader in perinatal, pediatric and adolescent infectious diseases clinical trials, in medical education, and in basic science research. His work has been supported by intramural funding and by extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a principal investigator in clinical and laboratory research, initially at the University of Oxford in England and currently at Mayo Clinic.
Jasmine R. Marcelin, md, facp, fidsa
Director, IDSA Foundation
Dr. Marcelin is a Caribbean native born on the island of Dominica. She received her bachelor’s degree with a double major in biology and chemistry, and a Diploma in Forensic Science at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She then returned to her second home, Antigua & Barbuda, for medical school at American University of Antigua College of Medicine, after which she then completed her internal medicine residency followed by an infectious diseases fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. During her time at Mayo Clinic, she was a Chief Infectious Diseases Fellow and founding co-chair of the Mayo Fellows’ Association Trainee Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is board certified in infectious diseases.
Dr. Marcelin is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion and is a founding member of the Infectious Diseases Society (IDSA) Inclusion, Diversity, Access & Equity Taskforce working toward creating a more diverse and inclusive Infectious Diseases specialty. She is also the co-director of Digital Innovation & Social Media Strategy for the Division of Infectious Diseases, and vice chair of the IDSA Digital Strategy Advisory group, highlighting her influence and expertise in social media for healthcare professionals.
Dr. Marcelin is the Vice Chair of Belonging and Community Engagement in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. She is also co-director of Digital Innovation and Social Media Strategy for the UNMC Division of Infectious Diseases. She was previously an Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency Program where she founded the Developing an Inclusive and Varied Environment for Residents, Students and Educators Council.
Clinically Dr. Marcelin practices infectious diseases and has a special interest in antimicrobial stewardship.