The early days of the Covid-19 pandemic were terrifying. Confirmed U.S. Covid deaths grew from eight—total—in early March 2020 to more than 1,000 every day just a month later. Three weeks after that, the death toll was often 2,000 a day or more.
We knew little about the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There was, as yet, no vaccine. And there were no tested, approved antiviral medicines to treat desperately ill patients in overwhelmed hospital ICUs.
But the cavalry was coming. And your research was critical to the charge. You were principal investigator at the Massachusetts General Hospital site of an international clinical trial of remdesivir, a broad-spectrum antiviral drug.
Preliminary results—announced by the NIH that terrifying April—offered a glimmer of hope. The drug significantly reduced deaths due to advanced Covid-19; it significantly speeded the recovery of patients who lived. Remdesivir quickly received emergency use authorization and eventually was the first Covid treatment to receive full FDA approval.
Your leadership during the pandemic was typical of a career of service at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Your research focuses on gastrointestinal infections and the intestinal microbiome. You have conducted important studies on salmonella, listeria and vaccine development. You have helped keep research safe, heading the institutional review boards that oversee studies at the Mass General Brigham health system.
In recognition of your distinguished achievement in medicine, Williams College is proud to honor you with its Bicentennial Medal.