Karen L. Kotloff, MD Investiture Program

KAREN L. KOTLOFF, MD
Karen L. Kotloff, MD, is a pediatric infectious
disease physician who has made outstanding
contributions to scientific research. She is a public
health champion whose achievements have guided the
development and implementation of interventions that
have reduced preventable death and suffering in
children throughout the world.
Dr. Kotloff was born in Philadelphia, PA. She earned
her BA from Washington University in St. Louis, MO
in 1975 and her MD from Temple University School
of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA in 1979, following in
the footsteps of her father and maternal grandfather.
She completed her residency in Pediatrics at the
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in 1983, and her
fellowship in Infectious Disease at the UMSOM
Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health
(CVD). In 1987, she joined the UMSOM faculty, rising through the ranks to become Professor
in 1999. She has secondary appointments in the Department of Medicine and the Department
of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine. She has served as Head of the Division of
Infectious Disease and Tropical Pediatrics since 2012. In 2021, Dr. Kotloff was among the
first group of faculty at University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) to receive the title of
Distinguished Professor, the highest appointment bestowed upon a faculty member.
Dr. Kotloff is an outstanding clinician-teacher who has cared for many ill children at UMMC
for over 3 decades. She received the House Staff Teaching Award and has been cited as one of
Baltimore Magazine’s Best Doctors. Her work as a clinician helped to shape the research and
public health work she has pursued.
Dr. Kotloff is recognized internationally for her research on diarrheal diseases, a leading cause
of malnutrition and death in children throughout the world. She has conducted large
multicenter epidemiologic studies in the U.S. and in multiple countries throughout sub-
Saharan Africa and Asia to characterize the disease burden and identify the causes, risk
factors, and health consequences of infectious diseases in children. This research has led to the
introduction of life-saving vaccines that had been available for many years in the U.S., but
many barriers had prevented them from reaching children in developing countries.
She has worked extensively in Mali, West Africa, one of the world’s poorest countries with
very high under-5 mortality rates. Currently, she is leading a randomized placebo-controlled
trial in Mali among 50,000 pregnant women and their infants funded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation. Known as SANTE, this trial will determine whether spaced doses of the
antibiotic azithromycin reduces infant mortality. In recognition of her contributions to child
health in Mali, she was awarded Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mali (Knight of the
National Order of Mali) by the President of Mali.
Dr. Kotloff’s other focus is the clinical development of vaccines to control infectious diseases
of public health importance. She has served as Principal Investigator of the NIAID-funded
Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit (VTEU) for 16 years. She has performed trials in all
age groups for prevention of many infections including Shigella, cholera, typhoid, Clostridium
difficile, anthrax, group A streptococcus, and influenza. When SARS-CoV-2 emerged, she led
the Moderna trial at UMSOM. In addition, she served as the global co-Chair for the Novavax
trial. She prioritized community outreach, establishing a new vaccine trial site at Casa de
Maryland in Hyattsville, to ensure that strong data were available from those at highest risk of
severe COVID-19. She serves as a technical expert and advisor on multiple national and
international committees including the World Health Organization and the Vaccine and
Related Biological Products Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration from
2014 to 2018. Her work has resulted in more than 350 published articles and book chapters.

WELCOME
Heather S. Culp, JD
Senior Vice President
Chief Philanthropy Officer
University of Maryland Medicine
Steven J. Czinn, MD
The Drs. Rouben and Violet Jiji Endowed Professor
Chair, Department of Pediatrics
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Director, University of Maryland Children's Hospital (UMCH)
REMARKS
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
Dean, University of Maryland School of Medicine
Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore
John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor
DONOR RECOGNITION
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
SPEAKERS
Kathleen M. Neuzil, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FACP
The Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH Professor of Vaccinology
Director, Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health
Chief, Division of Geographic Medicine
Professor, Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics
University of Maryland School of Medicine
James D. Campbell, MD, MS
Professor, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Diseases and Tropical Pediatrics
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Samba Sow, MD, MSc, FASTMH
Director General for National Institute of Public Health (INSP)
Director General of the Center for Vaccine Development in Mali (CVD-Mali)
Former Minister of Health
Mali Ministry of Health and Social Development
Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM)
MEDAL PRESENTATION
Mark T. Gladwin, MD
REMARKS
Karen L. Kotloff, MD
The John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor of Pediatrics
CLOSING REMARKS
Steven J. Czinn, MD

T
he first endowed professorships were established more than 500
years ago with the creation of the Lady Margaret chairs in divinity
at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. The original endowed
chairs were sponsored by Lady Margaret, countess of Richmond,
and grandmother of Henry VIII in 1502. Subsequently, private individuals
began making financial contributions to establish other endowed
professorships and chairs such as the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics, which
Sir Isaac Newton held beginning in 1669. Professor Stephen Hawking, the
internationally renowned physicist and recipient of the 2010 Presidential
Medal of Freedom, was another prominent holder of this endowed chair.
The honor associated with appointment to an endowed position has remained
unchanged for the last 500 years and is recognized as one of the highest
tributes that an academic institution can bestow upon its most distinguished
faculty. These endowed professorships and chairs continue to reward
exceptional scholars uninterrupted to the present time.
The Office of Development is charged with securing private gifts to ensure the
School’s tradition of excellence is sustained through robust research, clinical,
and educational programs and initiatives. The University of Maryland School
of Medicine is fortunate to have nearly 85 endowed chairs & professorships in
various stages of completion and held by esteemed faculty members.

JOHN A. SCHOLL, MD AND
MARY LOUISE SCHOLL, MD
John A. Scholl, MD and Mary Louise
Scholl, MD, had exemplary and
fascinating careers since receiving their
degrees in Medicine from the University
of Maryland Medical School in 1941
and 1942, respectively. They were
married in 1941.
Dr. John Scholl attended West Point and also received a degree from West Virginia
University before attending medical school at the University of Maryland. He
interned at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh before serving with the U.S. Army Medical
Corps stationed with the 105th Station Hospital in North Africa during World War
II. After the war he received training in general surgery and neurosurgery at Ohio
State University, followed by a neurosurgery fellowship at Massachusetts General
Hospital. Scholl practiced neurosurgery in the Boston area until 1974 when
they moved to Escondido, California. He was a first-class aviation medical
examiner for the Federal Aviation Association until March 1996 when failing health
forced his retirement.
Dr. Mary Louise Scholl interned at Pittsburgh Medical Center and received
residency training at Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital and Columbus Children’s
Hospital. A pediatric neurology fellowship followed at both Columbus Children’s
and Boston Children’s Hospital. She served on the faculty at Harvard Medical
School from 1954 to 1971, and in 1962 developed the first CCG Lab at
Massachusetts General Hospital. Seven years later, Dr. Scholl started the first
comprehensive learning disabilities unit there. Upon their move to Escondido, she
joined the faculty at the University of California San Diego as an associate clinical
professor and medical director of the neuropsychological development center.
Dr. John Scholl passed away on January 14, 1997, and Dr. Mary Louise Scholl
joined him almost 10 years later on January 8, 2007.
The gift that established this endowed professorship was originally named by Dr.
Mary Louise Scholl in honor of her husband, Dr. John Scholl. Her name was added
after her death by their family to honor them both.