Transformative Leader Award

Demetre C. Daskalakis, MD, MPH

The Transformative Leader Award recognizes HIVMA members who have transformed the field through significant achievement in HIV clinical care, provider education, research or advocacy. This year’s honoree is Demetre C. Daskalakis, MD, MPH.

Dr. Daskalakis has spent the past two decades performing groundbreaking work in HIV  prevention, from the front lines of clinical care and community outreach in New York City to the highest levels of public health leadership at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the White House. A determined, principled advocate for LGBTQ health and health equity, he has consistently delivered innovative, data-driven and community-centered solutions in the face of public health challenges.

When he began his career as an ID and HIV doctor in New York City in the early 2000s, Dr. Daskalakis transformed public health via a “status-neutral” approach to HIV prevention, emphasizing equity and inclusivity. He adapted this innovative approach to care at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, where he eventually served as incident commander during the measles outbreak of 2018-2019, through the first 10 months of the COVID-19 public health emergency and during other emergency responses.

As the leader of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of HIV Prevention, starting in late 2020, Dr. Daskalakis worked on the CDC COVID response, seeking to mitigate disparities both in COVID vaccine uptake and in developing interventions to end the HIV epidemic.

In 2022, Dr. Daskalakis was named deputy coordinator of the White House National Mpox Response. He led a tremendously successful response to the new threat, achieving a 99% reduction in cases and establishing groundbreaking syndemic response models.

Dr. Daskalakis became director of CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases in 2022, where he leveraged the lessons of previously successful health responses in focusing on respiratory disease control and vaccine equity. Resigning from CDC in August 2025, he took a principled and public stand for public health and science following the abrupt dismissal of CDC’s director by the Administration and alarming changes to CDC’s decision-making process for vaccine recommendations. 

HIVMA is proud to honor Dr. Daskalakis with the HIVMA Transformative Leader Award in recognition of his visionary and principled leadership, scientific rigor and unapologetic advocacy, which have indelibly shaped HIV care, prevention and policy.

2024  – Daniel R. Kuritzkes, MD, FIDSA
2023 – Judith Feinberg, MD, FACP, FIDSA