Ruth A. Karron, M.D.
Professor, International Health
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Joint Appointment, Pediatrics
School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Karron is a pediatric infectious diseases physician, virologist, and vaccinologist, Professor in the Department of International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Director of the Johns Hopkins Vaccine Initiative. Dr. Karron has substantial experience in the evaluation of respiratory virus vaccines in adult and pediatric populations. Her research interests also include the development of immune responses to respiratory viral infections in early life, the epidemiology of RSV and other respiratory viral diseases in low resource settings, and public policy and ethical issues related to vaccine development and distribution. Dr. Karron has been a member of a number of national and international vaccine advisory committees and panels, including the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and the COVAX ACT-acclerator COVID Vaccine Maternal Immunization Working Group, and is a current member of the GAVI VIS Steering Committee. She has chaired the FDA Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) and the Vaccines Advisory Panel for the Wellcome Trust, and currently chairs the WHO Product Development for Vaccines Advisory Committee (PDVAC). In 2016, Dr. Karron received the Robert M. Chanock award for outstanding lifetime contributions to RSV research.
