Gregory Gray, MD, MPH, an expert in influenza and a proponent of interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving in health care, has joined the
Division of Infectious Diseases as professor of medicine.
Dr. Gray was most recently professor and chair in the Department of Environmental and Global Health in the College of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Florida. He also served as professor in the Department of Infectious Diseases and Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine.
Gray’s knowledge of
zoonotic human disease reflects a growing public health and medical science emphasis on recognizing and understanding emerging infectious diseases. His research group specializes in human-animal interaction, looking for evidence of pathogens crossing over into other species.
Gray was recruited through the
School of Medicine Partnership Hires Recruiting Initiative. He will have joint appointments in the Department of Medicine, the
Duke Global Health Institute and
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore.
“I saw Duke as having a forward-thinking, internationally focused plan for the future, and I was enthusiastic to hear about the Global Health Institute, Duke-NUS and Duke Kunshan University in China,” said Gray. He has current research collaborations in China, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia and Eastern Europe, and he is expecting a new R01 award to further his work in zoonotic influenza transmission in China.
Gray said he was especially drawn to Duke because of the work of
Chris Woods, John Perfect, and other investigators at Duke, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and N.C. State University.
“I’ve been working in a school of public health for a long time, and it’s going to be a rich learning experience to participate now in a school of medicine, where I can collaborate with people focused on human clinical care,” said Gray.
In a career spanning 25 years, Gray has conducted numerous epidemiological studies of populations for infectious diseases, including avian, swine and human influenza infections. His team has documented evidence for subclinical highly-pathogenic H5N1 and low-pathogenic H9N2 avian influenza virus infections, and also documented the
first 2009 pandemic H1N1 infections in pigs.
Gray graduated from the United States Naval Academy and earned his M.D. at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed his residency in preventive health at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. He earned a master’s degree in public health degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health.
“We are delighted that we were able to recruit Greg to Duke University,” said
John Perfect, MD, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases. “He is an established investigator who has demonstrated leadership in the growing interdisciplinary field of One Health, and he has an international reputation in global emerging infectious diseases.”
One Health is an international, cross-disciplinary initiative that links human, animal and environmental health.
Worldwide, wrote Perfect in his partnership-hires proposal to Dean Nancy Andrews, nearly 75 percent of all emerging human infectious diseases in the past three decades originated in animals, including HIV-AIDS, West Nile virus, SARS and monkeypox virus. Pandemic influenza remains a looming threat and, more recently, MERS-CoV has been imported and then achieved local transmission in the U.S.
“Furthermore, the vectorborne diseases dengue and chikungunya are knocking loudly at our southern boundaries,” said Perfect. And, he added, in the news right now is an ebola virus pandemic in West Africa.
At the University of Florida, Gray directed the
One Health Center of Excellence and co-directed the
One Health Center for Environmental and Occupational Research in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Gray encourages Duke investigators to contact him regarding potential collaborations in zoonotic diseases or respiratory virus research. Considering his more than 160 previous international trainees, he has strong connections with numerous institutions worldwide.
Extra
Want to read more about zoonotic diseases? We have an extra (free) copy of
Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen (2012: W.W. Norton & Company). Contact Anton Zuiker if you’d like to read it.
