2024 Speaker
Admiral Brett P. Giroir, M.D.
16th US Assistant Secretary for Health
DR. BRETT GIROIR is a physician-scientist whose career has been dedicated to improving public health. Formerly, he served as the 16th Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Acting FDA Commissioner, and Admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He also served as the US Representative to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization. Notably, Dr. Giroir was on the front lines of the COVID-19 response as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the national lead for testing and diagnostics (“Testing Czar”).
Previously, Dr. Giroir has served in numerous leadership positions in the federal government and in academia. He was the first physician to serve as an office director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and chaired the Blue-Ribbon Panel for the Veterans Choice Act Reform of the VA Health System. Dr. Giroir currently serves as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors for Altesa BioSciences, Inc., and Board Chair for OncoNano Medicine, Inc. His non-profit activities include Board service on the Global Virus Network.
Dr. Giroir has received numerous awards from academic, non-profit, and federal institutions, including the American Society of Nephrology Presidential Medal, the American Society of Hematology Outstanding Public Service Award, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation Excellence in Patient Care Award. His uniformed service decorations include the US Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star Attachment, the Meritorious Service Medal, and the Surgeon General’s Medallion.
Dr. Giroir is a graduate of Harvard University (magna cum laude) and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He resides in College Station, Texas, with his wife of 38 years, Jill Shorey Giroir, and has two daughters and three granddaughters. His new book and audiobook, Memoir of a Pandemic: Fighting COVID from the Front Lines to the White House, is now available through internet distributors and at many local bookstores.