Sten H. Vermund, MD, PhD, is senior associate vice president of USF Health and dean of the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He serves as a Distinguished University Health Professor of Public Health and Pediatrics. In addition, he is director of the Cancer Control Prevention and Epidemiology Program for Tampa General Hospital and chief medical officer of the Global Virus Network, an international organization headquartered at USF. 

Dr. Vermund is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a fellow of the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He has been engaged in infectious disease epidemiology research, application, and teaching for over 40 years. Dr. Vermund works in resource-limited settings on global virus control and maternal, infant, and child health, including HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, COVID-19, and parasitic diseases. He is active in global science education and in addressing vaccine hesitancy through microbiology education for lay audiences and policymakers. Dr. Vermund’s work in implementation science seeks to increase coverage and quality of infectious and chronic disease services. His current projects focus on maternal and child health capacity building in Chad, molecular phylogeny of HIV in Kazakhstan, and HIV prevention in the U.S.

Prior to joining USF Health, Dr. Vermund served as dean of the Yale School of Public Health and as Anna M.R. Lauder Professor of Public Health at Yale University, as well as president of the Global Virus Network. He also has held several senior leadership positions at other institutions, including as vice president for Global Health at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center and chair of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Additionally, Dr. Vermund spent over five years as a branch chief at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Division of AIDS. Dr. Vermund founded the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) and Friends in Global Health in Mozambique and Nigeria; all three non-governmental organizations are providing vital clinical care and research guidance in their home nations. A prolific researcher and NIH-funded scientist, Dr. Vermund has communicated his work in over 750 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and commentaries.

Dr. Vermund earned his BA from Stanford University and his MD from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his pediatrics residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center (Babies Hospital). He also earned a M.Sc. in Community Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a Diploma in Public Health from the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene. He also earned MPhil and PhD degrees in Epidemiology from Columbia University.  He is a board-certified pediatrician and board-certified preventive medicine physician. 

Dr. Vermund was president of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering through 2024. Among his past recognitions are the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Alumnus Lifetime Achievement Award, the Drs. Anvar and Pari Velji Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence in Global Health, the Douglas K. Richardson Award for Perinatal & Pediatric Health Care Research from the Society for Pediatric Research, the Norman J. Siegel New Member Outstanding Scientist Award from the American Pediatric Society, the Allan Rosenfield Alumni Award for Excellence in Public Health from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award from Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the Special Recognition Award from the Association of Yale Alumni in Public Health, the John F. Enders Distinguished Lecturer in Medical Virology for the Infectious Disease Society of America, and the Great Wall Friendship Award from the Beijing Municipal Government. Since 2017, the Sten H. Vermund Award in Global Health has been given to outstanding graduates from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.