WASHINGTON (June 4, 2024) — The Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University has named Timothy Holtz, global health epidemiologist, researcher, and board-certified physician in both preventive and internal medicine, as the newly appointed chair and director of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness. He will also serve as a Professor of Global Health starting July 1, 2024.
Holtz comes to the Milken Institute School of Public Health from his role as Deputy Director of the Office of AIDS Research within the office of the NIH Director. In 2020, he was appointed to the rank of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General in the US Public Health Service and served at that rank for four years at NIH.
“We are thrilled to introduce Timothy Holtz as our new Redstone Chair, and we welcome his deep passion and knowledge of public health science and practice to our school,” said Lynn R. Goldman, Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Public Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health. “As non-communicable and communicable diseases are threatening the health and wellbeing of people, globally, his quarter century of experience in public health prevention, global health leadership, research and policy will be a significant asset to the Redstone Center.”
Holtz’s experience includes management of the CDC HIV/AIDS Research Program in Thailand and the CDC Division of Global HIV/TB in India. He also served as the site principal investigator for the Emory-CDC Clinical Trial Unit in Thailand, and has background subject matter expertise in tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis treatment and control.
He has been on multiple deployment missions in response to refugee resettlement, the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, cholera outbreak control in the Americas, and public health responses to natural disasters. He was one of the first responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center terrorist attack and a key investigator during the 2001 anthrax release in New York City.
“I am privileged and honored to be at the helm of the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness,” Holtz said. “I look forward to using my extensive experience to make a positive difference in our communities and drive prevention improvements in the public health space.”
Holtz’s academic experience includes an impactful stint at Emory University, where he assisted his colleagues in a volunteer capacity to initiate educational programming in health and human rights at the Rollins School of Public Health. He also led a course in Social Medicine for the Emory Medical School and served as co-director of a tuberculosis epidemiology course.
Holtz received a BA in chemistry at St. Olaf College, an MD from the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and an MPH in International Health from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed a residency in Internal Medicine (Primary Care) at Harvard Medical School, a fellowship in Health and Human Rights at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and the EIS epidemiology fellowship training and a residency in Preventive Medicine at the CDC.
-GW-