Introducing SPH 2025 Commencement Speaker Dr. Virginia A. Caine, MD

Virginia A. Caine, MD is the Director and Chief Medical Officer of the Marion County Public Health Department. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine Infectious Diseases Division and Adjunct faculty at IU Fairbanks School of Public Health. She served as a Past President for the American Public Health Association. She is the 125th President of the National Medical Association. She received the Bio Crossroads “2017 August M. Watanabe Life Sciences Champion of the Year” Award as the first Black and first woman to receive this award and the Indiana Governor’s highest award, Sagamore of the Wabash award for service. In 2020, the Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ) named her as one of 40 Influential People of the past 40 years.

She has served on many federal and academic committees including the Institute of Medicine Prevention and Control of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, ad hoc NIH study sections, CDC Translational Research Committee, and CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STD Prevention and Treatment. She is Chair of the Indiana University Clinical and Translational Science Institute External Advisory Board and member of Regenstrief Institute. She is a founding member of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. She is the Chair of the Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center Community Advisory Committee. She is a past member of the National Biodefense Science Board, which provides guidance to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness.

She is a member of the CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Editorial Board. She is currently a member of the CDC’s Board of Scientific Counselors, Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases (BSC, DDID); one of CDC’s 19 federal advisory committees. In 2021-2022 she served on the Indiana State Legislative Public Health, Behavioral Health and Human Services Interim Study Committee and in 2022-2023 she was on the Indiana Governor’s Public Health Commission.

Dr. Caine works tirelessly to promote and advance public health through innovative programs and unprecedented collaborations. Her boundless energy, vision, and drive to serve people, especially disadvantaged areas, have led Dr. Caine to have her fingerprints on numerous projects.