Dr. Ali S. Khan

Dean and Professor of Epidemiology

University of Nebraska Medical Center
College of Public Health

Dr. Ali S. Khan is a retired assistant surgeon general and is the third dean at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. Previously, he served at the CDC for 23 years before retiring as the director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

During his time at the CDC, Dr. Khan led and responded to numerous high-profile domestic and international public health emergencies, including hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, Ebola virus disease, the Asian Tsunami (2004), and the initial public health response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Dr. Khan served as one of the main architects of the CDC's public health bioterrorism preparedness program, which was crucial in limiting the scope of the first anthrax attack. He also founded the CDC’s Public Health Matters blog and has been personally engaged in Guinea worm and polio eradication activities. While directing global infectious disease activities, he designed the laboratory component of the CDC's field epidemiology and training program. He also helped design and implement the CDC component of the $1.2 billion, five-year President’s Malaria Initiative. 

Dr. Khan is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians. In the past, Dr. Khan was an adjunct professor at Rollins where he directed the emerging infections course.

BS, Brooklyn College, Chemistry and Psychology
MPH, Rollins School of Public Health, EPI, BIOS
MD, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine 

Publications & Media

Khan AS, Lurie N. Health security in 2014: building on preparedness knowledge for emerging health threats. The Lancet 2014;384 (9937): 93-95.

Posid JM. Goodman RA, Khan AS. Classifying infectious disease outbreaks to improve timeliness and efficiency of response. Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness 2014;8:89-94.

Lurie N, Khan AS. Ensuring the health security of America's children.  J Pediatr 2013;163(1):274-6.

Lumpkin JR, Miller YK, Inglesby T, Links JM, Schwartz AT, Slemp CC, Burhans RL, Blumenstock J, Khan AS. The Importance of Establishing a National Health Security Preparedness Index. Biosecurity and Bioterrorism: Biodefense Strategy, Practice, and Science 2013;11(1):1-7.

Abubakar I, Gautret P, Brunette GW, Blumberg L, Johnson D, Poumerol G, Memish ZA, Barbeschi M, Khan AS. Global Perspectives on Preventing Infectious Diseases associated with Mass Gatherings. Lancet Infectious Diseases 2012;12:66-74.

Mills JN, Gage KL, Khan AS. Potential Influence of Climate Change on Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases: A Review and Proposed Research Plan. Environ Health Perspect 2010;118:1507-1514.

Khan AS, Fleischauer A, Casani J, Groseclose SL. The next public health revolution: public health information fusion and social networks. Am J Public Health 2010; 100(7):1237-42.

Montgomery JM, Ksiazek TG, Khan AS. Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome: the sound of a mouse roaring. J Infect Dis 2007;95(11):1553-5.

McKee KT Jr, Khan AS. Hemorrhagic fever viruses belonging to the families arenaviridae, filoviridae, and bunyaviridae. In: Gorbach S, Bartlett JG, Blacklow NR, eds. Infectious Diseases 3rd ed. Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Philadelphia, PA; 2004.

Furchgott RF, Khan MT, Jothiaden D, Khan AS. Evidence that the Endothelium Derived Relaxing Factor of rabbit aorta is nitric oxide. In: Vascular Neuroeffector Mechanisms, Proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium, Ed. Beran et. al., ICSU Press, Paris, 1988.