Jonathan I. Ravdin, MD, an international leader in infectious diseases, began serving as Dean and Executive Vice President of the Medical College of Wisconsin in May 2008. Before coming to the Medical College, Dr. Ravdin was the Nesbitt Professor and Chairman of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School.
Dr. Ravdin is widely recognized for contributing seminal research on the molecular mechanisms by which Entamoeba histolytica, an enteric protozoan parasite that is highly endemic worldwide, causes invasive amebiasis (colitis and liver abscess), and how humans develop an effective mucosal immune response. His work has lead to the development and study of an experimental vaccine designed to prevent infection and, potentially, eradicate this disease. Under Dr. Ravdin’s leadership, the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School became a top research department and a national leader in the training of subspecialty physicians. While there, he initiated comprehensive new programs addressing physician/scientist development and global health and developed a partnership program with Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, India, to provide access in India to high technology care in bone marrow transplantation. He also led strategic planning efforts for research and educational program development, leading to successful allocation of $8 million in state funding to support medical education. As a researcher, Dr. Ravdin has authored or co-authored more than 270 articles, abstracts and book chapters. He received 27 years of continuous funding support from the National Institutes of Health for laboratory-based and large international field studies in amebiasis research. Amebiasis is the third leading parasitic cause of death worldwide. Dr. Ravdin is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, honors bestowed on researchers in academic medicine whose accomplishments are deemed of high importance and scientifically distinguished. He is a former member of the board of directors of the Association of Professors of Medicine and received the Bailey K. Ashford Award for Excellence in Research in Tropical Medicine from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Before joining the University of Minnesota faculty, Dr. Ravdin was Professor and Vice Chairman of Medicine and Professor of International Health at Case Western University School of Medicine and Chief of Medicine at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He also served on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he received four awards for excellence in teaching and research. Dr. Ravdin received his MD degree from Tufts University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in internal medicine at The New York Hospital – Cornell Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in infectious diseases at the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
He is married to Marcie Christensen Ravdin. They have four children.
This article originally appeared in full in a Dec. 6, 2007 Special World issue.