Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, named IDSA president

The Infectious Diseases Society of America is pleased to announce Ronald G. Nahass, MD, MHCM, FIDSA, as the Society’s new president beginning Oct. 23. In addition, a new vice president, a new secretary, two new directors and a new HIVMA representative to the IDSA Board were elected to serve with Dr. Nahass. The Board of Directors will work to advance the Society’s overall strategic priorities, including building and sustaining a broad, diverse and valued ID workforce to improve patient care, advance science and promote public health; promoting IDSA as the leader and trusted source for timely, evidence-based ID content and expertise; and expanding IDSA’s leadership in preventing, preparing for and responding to ID threats to protect our communities. 

“Experts in infectious diseases play a vital role in patient care, education, research and public health,” Dr. Nahass said. “By providing clear, compassionate and science-backed guidance, we can help ensure patients receive optimal care and make informed health choices. I’m honored to work alongside leaders in infectious diseases in these consequential times to promote evidence-based science and excellence in public health, to mentor the next generation of ID professionals and to advocate for ID clinicians and the critical work that we do.” 

Dr. Nahass is the founder, former president and current director of clinical research for ID Care, the largest health care organization providing infectious diseases specialty services in New Jersey, and is a clinical professor of medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He serves as a mentor for medical students and is a preceptor for the residents’ medical clinic. 

Dr. Nahass is passionate about the value and importance of the infectious diseases specialty and the delivery of high-quality, cost-effective care to promote health. He has served IDSA as chair of the Quality Committee and has served as a member the Clinical Affairs Committee, the Governance Task Force and the IDSA/American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Hepatitis C Guidelines Committee. Dr. Nahass has also served as chair of the IDSA Foundation Board of Directors. He was awarded the Distinguished Physician Humanitarian Award in 2008 by the Princeton HealthCare System for his work with patients with HIV/AIDS and received IDSA’s Watanakunakorn Clinician Award in 2020.

New IDSA Board members 
Dr. Nahass is pleased to be working with newly elected IDSA Board members, including:

Maximo O. Brito, MD, MPH, FIDSA, was elected to serve as vice president of the Board. He is a professor of medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. During his tenure at UIC, he has served as ID fellowship program director, vice-chair of medicine, and associate head and director of the Department of Medicine’s Urban Global Medicine Program. A member of the IDSA Board of Directors since 2021, Dr. Brito has also served on the IDSA Foundation Board of Directors, the HIVMA Clinical Fellowship Program Committee, the IDSA Global Health Committee and the Training Program Directors Committee. He has testified on behalf of IDSA at the United Nations on the topics of tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance and has participated in several Capitol Hill visits. Dr. Brito specializes in the care of patients with infectious diseases, particularly individuals with or at risk of acquiring HIV.

Erin M. Bonura, MD, MCR, FIDSA, was elected to serve as secretary of the Board. She is professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases/Department of Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon. She serves as the ID fellowship program director and as the undergraduate medical education thread director for microbiology & immunology. She has been a member of the IDSA Board of Directors since 2023 and was IDSA Education Committee chair from 2019 to 2021. She was also a co-founder of and chaired the Medical Education Community of Practice Leadership Group from 2021 to 2023. Dr. Bonura has been deeply engaged in tackling ID workforce issues for over 10 years, and she looks forward to helping IDSA members navigate challenging times to continue to serve patients and grow the field of ID. 

Adarsh Bhimraj, MD, FIDSA, was elected to serve as a director on the Board. He is director of infectious diseases education and fellowships at Houston Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas, where he leads multiple fellowship programs and advances innovative training and physician well-being. Nationally, Dr. Bhimraj has chaired the IDSA COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel since 2020, guiding more than 70 updates that shaped global care, and contributed to the Healthcare-Associated Meningitis and Ventriculitis Guideline. He played a central role in IDWeek during the pandemic, serving as vice chair in 2021 and as chair in 2022, helping steer the conference through unprecedented challenges. He also served as associate editor for supplements at The Journal of Infectious Diseases from 2023 to 2024. A recognized clinician-educator, he created signature initiatives such as the ID Fundamentals/Clinical Reasoning Bootcamp for GME programs and the widely popular IDBugBowl event at IDWeek, blending rigor, creativity and engagement. He is deeply committed to serving the ID specialty with integrity, creativity and shared purpose and to fostering a community that is trusted, transformative and inclusive. 

Rana Chakraborty, MD, PhD, FIDSA, was selected to serve as treasurer of the Board. He is professor of pediatrics and division chief in pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. He is also a director for the Center for AIDS Research at that institution. He is an experienced physician-scientist and educator in perinatal, pediatric and adolescent infectious diseases. His lab has unique expertise in placental and fetal immunology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he expanded his research portfolio to SARS-CoV-2 infection in the mother-infant dyad. Dr. Chakraborty is committed to addressing health equity and diversity in medicine, having served as chair of the Diversity Committee in Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics and as the former chair for the Section of International Medical Graduates at the American Academy of Pediatrics. 
  
Anurag Malani, MD, FIDSA, was elected to serve as a director on the Board. He is the medical director of hospital epidemiology, antimicrobial stewardship and special pathogen programs at Trinity Health Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He is a health system leader and infectious diseases expert locally and across the 93 hospitals of Trinity Health. He previously served on the SHEA Board of Trustees from 2020 to 2022, as the IDSA liaison to HICPAC in 2024 and as a HICPAC member in 2025. Dr. Malani is an infectious diseases physician consultant for the Surveillance for Health Care-Associated and Resistant Pathogens Unit at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and an adjunct clinical professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Michigan and in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He is currently the president of the Michigan Infectious Diseases Society. He has participated on several IDSA committees, including the Antimicrobial Resistance Committee, the Clinical Affairs Committee, the Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, and the Clinical Practice Innovation Working Group. Dr. Malani is committed to helping IDSA successfully lead and manage change through thoughtful advocacy, effective communication, innovation, inclusion and transparency. 

Michelle S. Cespedes, MD, MS, was elected to serve as the HIVMA representative to the IDSA Board. She is a tenured professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; interim system chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai Health System; unit medical director of the HIV Service at Mount Sinai Health System; and co-director of the Clinical and Translational Research Center at Mount Sinai. She has been a member of the IDSA/HIVMA Strategic Planning Committee, the HIVMA Clinical Fellowship Committee and the HIVMA Board of Directors. As the principal investigator of the clinical research site co-located with Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, Dr. Cespedes recognizes the value of ensuring that members from vulnerable communities have a seat at the table, from contributing to clinical research priorities to best practices for implementation. 

In addition to Drs. Nahass, Brito and Bonura, the IDSA Executive Committee includes President-Elect Wendy S. Armstrong, MD, FIDSA, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, and Immediate Past President Tina Tan, MD, FIDSA, FPIDS, FAAP, Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.

Members continuing their service on the Board include: 

• David M. Aronoff, MD, FIDSA, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana
• Matifadza Hlatshwayo Davis, MD, MPH, FIDSA, St. Louis, Missouri
• Robin H. Dretler, MD, FIDSA, Georgia Metro Infectious Disease Consultants, Atlanta, Georgia
• Kami Kim, MD, FIDSA, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
• Upinder Singh, MD, FIDSA, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa
• Heather Yun, MD, FIDSA, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas

About IDSA 
The Infectious Diseases Society of America is a global community of 13,000 clinicians, scientists and public health experts working together to solve humanity’s smallest and greatest challenges, from tiny microbes to global outbreaks. Rooted in science, committed to health equity and driven by curiosity, our compassionate and knowledgeable members safeguard the health of individuals, our communities and the world by advancing the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. Visit idsociety.org to learn more.