Page 11 - 2021 AUC Commencement Program

AMESH ADALJA, MD, FIDSA MOE AMERI, MD

AUC CLASS OF 2002 STUDENT SPEAKER

Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Dr. Moe Ameri’s passion for medicine began as he spent three years living
Dr. Amesh Adalja is a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Adjunct
Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Affiliate of inside in a hospital during the Iraqi civil war. He moved to the United States in 2007, where he learned
the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health. As a leading infectious disease/critical care expert, English and spent much of his time in constant movement. He considers Houston, Texas to be his
Dr. Adalja has been featured prominently in the media for his work on pandemic preparedness hometown, where he obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology at the University of Houston. He later
and emerging infectious disease policies. He is an active contributor with major national news obtained a master’s degree in biomedical sciences at Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in
networks, including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and CBS, as well as numerous local networks. You Pennsylvania.
may view a selection of his TV interviews on his YouTube page. Dr. Ameri started at AUC in fall 2017 and took an active role during the Hurricane Irma aftermath,
including search and rescue efforts and serving on the university’s medical triage team. He continued his
Dr. Adalja has served on US government panels tasked with developing guidelines for the
treatment of plague, botulism, and anthrax in mass casualty settings and for the system of care activism by becoming a first-semester representative when AUC temporarily relocated to Preston, UK,
for infectious disease emergencies. He also served as an external advisor to the New York City and was elected President of the Student Government Association (SGA) upon return to Sint Maarten,
Health + Hospitals Emergency Management Highly Infectious Disease training program and on where he led a significant effort to help rebuild the student experience on the island. He is a recipient
a US Federal Emergency Management Agency working group on nuclear disaster recovery. He of the Dr. Karl Stockhausen Memorial Award, Student Engagement Award, and SGA Service Award. Dr.
is a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America; he previously served on their Ameri also served as a co-Director of the Clinical SGA and navigated a rapidly changing environment
public health and diagnostics committees and their precision medicine working group. during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dr. Ameri is passionate about leadership and mentoring, and enjoys team sports, hiking, and cars in his
Dr. Adalja is a member of the American College of Emergency Physicians Pennsylvania Chapter’s
EMS & Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness Committee as well as the Allegheny County Medical spare time. This summer, Dr. Ameri will begin his internal medicine residency at the University of Texas
Reserve Corps. He was formerly a member of the National Quality Forum Infectious Disease Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.
Standing Committee, where he currently serves on the Primary Care and Chronic Illness Standing
Committee, and the US Department of Health and Human Services National Disaster Medical
System, with which he was deployed to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and was also selected for
their mobile acute care strike team.

Dr. Adalja is a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of
Physicians, and the American College of Emergency Physicians. He is a board-certified physician
in internal medicine, emergency medicine, infectious diseases, and critical care medicine. He
is a native of Butler, Pennsylvania, and actively practices infectious disease, critical care, and
emergency medicine in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, where he was appointed to the City of
Pittsburgh’s HIV Commission and the advisory group of AIDS Free Pittsburgh.