David Kimberlin, M.D., Sergio Stagno Endowed Chair in Pediatric Infectious Diseases, and professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has been awarded the senior faculty 2023 Dean’s Excellence Award for Service.
Kimberlin has been at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) since 1996 upon completion at UAB of his pediatric infectious diseases fellowship. Prior to joining UAB, he attended the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, Texas, for medical school, pediatric residency, and the initial portion of his pediatric infectious diseases fellowship training.
Kimberlin has been integral in the success of UAB and the Department of Pediatrics on local and national levels. Locally, he currently serves as the vice chair of clinical and translational research in the Department of Pediatrics, executive director of the Pediatric Research Office, and division co-director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.
His clinical and research work has focused on congenital and perinatal infections, particularly those attributed to herpes simplex virus (HSV) and cytomegalovirus (CMV). He is the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Congenital and Perinatal Infections Consortium (CPIC). Through the CPIC and its predecessor, the Collaborative Antiviral Study Group (CASG), Kimberlin has developed and led international studies that have defined antiviral treatment for these and other infectious diseases affecting newborns.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he was a passionate spokesperson in educating the public on the dangers of COVID and the efficacy and safety of its prevention through immunization. His concise and articulate interpretation of the pandemic provided visibility for UAB on both local and national news outlets.
Outside of UAB, Kimberlin has served as the president of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS). In 2022, he received the Walter T. Hughes PIDS Distinguished Physician Award, and in 2019 the PIDS Distinguished Service Award. He recently has been named to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Advisory Committee to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR). Kimberlin is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research and the American Pediatric Society and was recently elected to the membership of the Association of American Physicians. His knowledge and passion for pediatric infectious diseases were recognized by the American Academy of Pediatrics when they named him editor of the Red Book, the premier publication on managing infectious diseases, a role in which he has served since 2012.