Dr. Paige Waterman has been named the new chair of the Department of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University, and will assume the role Sept. 25.
Newswise — Bethesda, Md. – A renowned infectious disease clinician, researcher, and leader in the battle against antimicrobial resistance, Dr. Paige Waterman, has been named the next chair of the Department of Medicine at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU). She will officially assume the role Sept. 25, after having served as interim chair over the last year.
“The Department of Medicine is large and complex, with personnel in Military Treatment Facilities across the United States, research and clinical initiatives spanning multiple specialties. Dr. Waterman is a gifted leader and an accomplished physician, scientist, and educator who has led the department through a successful year of research, education, and clinical accomplishments, and we are delighted that she will continue in this role in a permanent capacity,” said USU School of Medicine Dean Dr. Eric Elster. “I am confident that she will continue to uphold the highest standards of the University in her new role as department chair.”
A retired Army colonel, Dr. Waterman is a respected expert in infectious disease research and policy. She was integral to the creation of the DoD’s Multidrug-Resistant Organism Repository and Surveillance Network at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. She also established the antimicrobial resistance unit at the Global Emerging Infectious Surveillance arm of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Directorate. Her operational assignments included a deployment with the 10th Mountain 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan, where she served as the Infectious Disease Theater Consultant.
Dr. Waterman led the biodefense and bioeconomy policy effort at the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President, continues to represent the DoD on Combating Antimicrobial Resistant Bacteria interagency work, and served as Medical Research and Development Consultant to the Army Surgeon General. Her military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Presidential Service Badge, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star, Surgeon General “A” Proficiency Designator, and Order of Military Medical Merit. A recently named Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Dr. Waterman is also a past President of the Greater Washington Infectious Diseases Society and former chief of Medical Residents at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC.
“The Department of Medicine’s path forward is filled with opportunities, and our talented faculty and staff remain our greatest strength,” Waterman said. “The Department is future-focused and eager to embrace new ideas, including AI and other technologies that will allow us to focus on what truly matters: people, visionary thinking, and innovation.”
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About the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences: The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is the nation’s federal health sciences university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USU students are primarily active-duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster response and humanitarian assistance, global health, and acute trauma care. USU also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health committed to excellence in research. The University's research program covers a wide range of areas important to both the military and public health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
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