Academy for Educational Development

Dr. Sommer is dean of the Bloomberg School of Public Health and professor of epidemiology, international health, and ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins University.

An international public health figure who has been honored by medical institutes and societies around the world, Dr. Sommer received both the prestigious Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award and Switzerland’s Helmut Horten Medical Research Award for his discovery that inexpensive vitamin A could save the sight and lives of more than a million children in the developing world each year. His international work has focused on controlling malnutrition, infectious diseases, and blindness, and he and his family have lived for extended periods in Bangladesh, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Sommer’s publications include more than 250 articles as well as books and monographs. He has served on several boards and advisory groups for organizations such as the World Health Organization, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Sommer received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and his M.H.S. in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine.