Emory University School of Medicine has named public health scientist Dr. Carlos del Rio as interim dean starting March 1. The current dean, Dr. Vikas Sukhatme, will step down at that time to return to return to the academic faculty, Emory said in a news release.

Del Rio studies the science of epidemics, and has done important research on HIV/AIDS. He advised Georgia officials and the public on COVID-19 during the pandemic. He has served in leadership positions for decades at Emory and at Grady Memorial Hospital, which Emory staffs with doctors.

Most recently del Rio was executive associate dean at the medical school at Grady Health System. He is co-director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research and is currently serving as president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

During the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic Dr. Carlos del Rio, an Emory University public health scientist, gave live streamed briefings to the press on the emerging science of the coronavirus.  Del Rio is shown here on April 10, 2020, less than a month into Georgia's severe pandemic measures, giving one such briefing from his car.   (Screenshot by Ariel Hart / AJC)

Credit: Ariel Hart

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Credit: Ariel Hart

Emory also recently named Dr. Ravi Thadhani as the university’s executive vice president for health affairs and executive director of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center.