Dr. Brett Giroir is a physician-scientist whose career has been dedicated to improving public health. Formerly, he served as the 16th Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Acting FDA Commissioner, and Admiral in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He also served as the US Representative to the Executive Board of the World Health Organization within the Department of State. Notably, Dr. Giroir was on the front lines of the COVID-19 response as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and the national lead for testing and diagnostics (“Testing Czar”).
Previously, Dr. Giroir has served in numerous leadership positions in the federal government and in academia. He was the first physician to serve as an office director at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and led the Blue-Ribbon Panel for the Veterans Choice Act Reform of the VA Health System. His academic career included service as Professor and Executive Vice President and CEO of the Texas A&M Health Science Center, Vice Chancellor for the Texas A&M University System, and before that, tenured professor and holder of two endowed chairs at UT Southwestern Medical Center and Children’s Health in Dallas.
Dr. Giroir currently serves as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors for Altesa BioSciences, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing new treatments for respiratory viruses and global viral threats. His non-profit activities include Board service on the Global Virus Network and Remote Area Medical (RAM), and he remains active in humanitarian initiatives in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dr. Giroir has received numerous awards including the American Society of Nephrology Presidential Medal; the American Society of Hematology Outstanding Public Service Award; the Sickle Cell Community Consortium Healthcare Champion Award; the Society of Federal Healthcare Professionals, Tip of the Spear Federal Healthcare Leadership Award; the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Pharmacy Champion Award; Remote Area Medical, Distinguished Service Award; the Society of Critical Care Medicine, Founders’ Special Recognition Award; the Executive Office of the President Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Director’s Distinguished Service Award; the Secretary of HHS (Becerra) Award for Distinguished Service; and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Foundation Excellence in Patient Care Award.
His uniformed service decorations include the US Public Health Service Distinguished Service Medal with Gold Star Attachment, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Surgeon General’s Medallion, the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Pinnacle Medal, the Global Health Campaign Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service, among other awards.
Dr. Giroir resides in College Station, Texas, with his wife of 37 years, Jill Shorey Giroir, and has two daughters and two granddaughters.