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Demetre Daskalakis

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Demetre Daskalakis
Deputy Coordinator of the White House National Monkeypox Response Team
Incumbent
Assumed office
August 2, 2022
LeaderRobert Fenton
Preceded byPosition established
Personal details
Born1972 or 1973 (age 51–52)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
EducationColumbia University (BS)
New York University (MD)
Harvard University (MPH)

Demetre C. Daskalakis (born 1972/1973)[1] is an American physician and gay health activist serving as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), and former director of the Division of HIV Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention.[2][3] During the administration of Joe Biden, he was appointed deputy coordinator of the White House's mpox response to the 2022–2023 outbreak of the disease.

Early life and education

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Daskalakis was born in Washington, D.C. to Greek parents[4] and raised in Arlington, Virginia.[5] He studied at Columbia University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1995.[6][7] He recalls becoming interested in AIDS during his senior year at Columbia University, when he was given the task to fly the AIDS Memorial Quilt as part of a student campaign to raise awareness of AIDS.[5][8]

He then received his medical degree from the NYU School of Medicine[5][8] and completed post-graduate medical training at Harvard Medical School in 2003.[6] He completed his residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2003.[9][10] He completed a Clinical Infectious Disease fellowship at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital's combined program.[9][10] In 2012, he earned a Master of Public Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.[6]

Career

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Daskalakis worked at Mount Sinai Hospital in Brooklyn, where at one time he held the position of medical director of ambulatory HIV services.[8] He was also an assistant professor at New York University.[11] His work with the "Men's Sexual Health Project", which he founded in 2006, involved working in sex clubs and bathhouses to test men for sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, and direct them to care.[8]

Daskalakis joined the New York City Department of Health in 2013.[12] During a 2012-2013 meningitis outbreak in the city, Daskalakis opened a pop-up clinic as part of a vaccination campaign targeting at-risk groups, such as men who had sex with men, and was credited with halting it.[13] By 2014, he was deputy commissioner for the Division of Disease Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.[14]

Daskalakis was a member of governor Andrew Cuomo's Ending the Epidemic Task Force, an effort to decrease HIV transmission rates in New York City.[15] Since joining the city's health department, he has promoted the concept of "status-neutral care", a strategy for HIV treatment and prevention which takes the same approach to initial patient care regardless of the patient's HIV status.[12] The concept was part of the plan for the Ending the Epidemic campaign.[15][16][non-primary source needed]

Starting on December 21, 2020, he served as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Director of the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention in the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention,[10][17] later renamed the Division of HIV Prevention in October 2021.[3] On August 2, 2022, President Joe Biden appointed him as the White House National Monkeypox Response Deputy Coordinator to respond to the 2022–2023 outbreak of the disease.[18][19] He was subsequently appointed as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD).[2]

Personal life

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Daskalakis is gay.[6] He met his husband Michael Macneal at Macneal's gym, Monster Cycle.[5][20][21]

Daskalakis attended a Greek Orthodox church in Washington, D.C. growing up. He has explained that the large tattoo of Jesus on his stomach is inspired by the church.[11] Following his White House appointment in 2022, right-wing figures and media have made baseless accusations that Daskalakis is a Satanist due to his clothing and tattoos, including a pentagram tattoo, which he has explicitly denied.[11][22][23]

References

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  1. ^ Fitzsimons, Tim (December 1, 2018). "Meet the 'Radical Gay Doctor' behind NYC's Falling HIV Rate". NBC News. Retrieved November 18, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD)". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 19, 2024. Archived from the original on September 26, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Daskalakis, Demetre; Mermin, Jonathan (October 4, 2021). "Introducing the new CDC Division of HIV Prevention Organizational Structure". HIV.gov. Archived from the original on October 4, 2021. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  4. ^ Chrysopoulos, Philip (November 19, 2021). "Demetre Daskalakis, The Greek-American Doctor Fighting to End HIV Transmission". Greek Reporter. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Krisch, Joshua A. (July 27, 2014). "New York City's 'Gay Health Warrior'". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Sim, Bernardo (September 8, 2022). "Meet Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, the CDC's Out & Proud Health Expert". Out. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  7. ^ "Demetre Daskalakis CC'95 Changes the City's Approach to H.I.V./AIDS". Columbia College Alumni Association. August 11, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d Hartocollis, Anemona (July 22, 2014). "Credibility Among Gay Men Gives Leverage to New York City's New Chief of H.I.V. Prevention". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Demetre Daskalakis Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of HIV Prevention and Control of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene". Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College.
  10. ^ a b c "Director of Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention Announcement". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. November 17, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  11. ^ a b c Daniels, Eugene (September 15, 2022). "Biden's monkeypox adviser is trying manage a virus while dodging talk of Satanism". Politico. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  12. ^ a b Fitzsimons, Tim (December 1, 2018). "Meet the 'radical gay doctor' behind NYC's falling HIV rate". NBC News. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  13. ^ Hartocollis, Anemona (August 14, 2013). "Vaccination Appears to Have Halted a Meningitis Outbreak". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  14. ^ Holpuch, Amanda (August 7, 2016). "New York's 'queer health warrior': city official funds grassroots fight against HIV". The Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "NYSDOH 2015 Blueprint on Ending the AIDS Epidemic" (PDF).
  16. ^ Daskalakis, Demetre. "HIV prevention and care are part of public health" (PDF).
  17. ^ Broverman, Neal (February 24, 2021). "Meet Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, Biden's New Weapon Against HIV". HIVPlusMag.com. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  18. ^ "President Biden Announces Team to Lead Monkeypox Response" (Press release). White House. August 2, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  19. ^ "Biden names U.S. monkeypox coordinators as more states cite emergencies". Reuters. August 2, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  20. ^ Devash, Meirav (January 2, 2015). "Where goths and gym rats meet to get fit". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  21. ^ "The Gaga Connection". Out. January 18, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2022.
  22. ^ Cooper, Alex (September 9, 2022). "Why Are Conservatives Tearing Their Hair Out Over This Gay Doctor?". The Advocate. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  23. ^ Hurler, Kevin (September 9, 2022). "Right Wing Tweeters Livid Over White House's New Disease Control Daddy". Gizmodo. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
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