Washington University Infectious Diseases Division welcomed Amita Gupta, MD, MHS as the Inaugural J. Russell Little MD Lecturer at the 2023 Annual Infectious Diseases Research Symposium on June 22, 2023.
J. Russell Little, MD, was on the faculty at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis from 1964 to 2005. He served as chief of infectious diseases at what was then Jewish Hospital from 1967 to 1996. Dr. Russel, a professor emeritus of medicine, died Aug. 18, 2018, in St. Louis following a long illness. He was known for his dedication to teaching, mentoring and patient care and served as an incredible role model to which the the Division of Infectious Diseases established the J. Russell Little Award for Excellence in Teaching in his honor. Each year our fellows vote for the clinical faculty member regarded as an exemplary teacher.
We also welcome his daughter, Susan Little, MD in the audience. Susan attended medical school and internal medicine residency at Washington University School of Medicine and is now a professor of medicine, infectious diseases at University of California, San Diego. She is a well-known leading expert in acute HIV infection.
The second Annual ID Research Symposium, 2023 was organized by Priya Pal, MD,PhD, a third year fellow in Infectious Diseases with the support of ID leadership.
Dr. Gupta is Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is also Deputy Director of the Center for Clinical Global Health Education (CCGHE), Faculty Co-chair of the Johns Hopkins India Institute, and Professor of Medicine at the JH School of Medicine, with a joint appointment in International Health at the JH Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Dr. Gupta, the inaugural speaker, specializes in international public health, clinical research, and education in infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB), and antimicrobial resistant infections. Since 2003, her work has been focused primarily on India, where she leads several Indo-JHU research collaborations. Her presentation titled “Advances in Tuberculosis Prevention and Treatment: Many reasons to be hopeful” provides an overview of new diagnostic and treatment innovations.