MARK S. KLEMPNER - Physician
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Dr. Klempner attended Tulane University and Cornell University Medical College where he was honored by both institutions for his academic achievements. After completing his internal medicine internship and residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, he trained in both clinical and research aspects of infectious diseases at the National Institute of Health. Dr. Klempner spent the next 20 years at Tufts New England Medical Center where he served as the Endicott Professor of Medicine, Vice Chairman for Scientific Affairs and Chairman of the New England Medical Center Research Council.

Dr. Klempner’s research interests have focused on the molecular aspects of how infectious agents cause human disease. In recent years, he has pioneered studies on the emerging infectious disease, Lyme Disease, ranging from how the bacteria invades, to vaccine development against this disease to studies on treatment. Grants from the NIH and NASA are funding another research focus of Dr. Klempner's: a design for a biosensor that will have the ability to quickly fingerprint different kinds of micro organisms including deadly anthrax spores. His research has been continuously funded from the NIH and NASA for over 24 years.

The author of over 250 scientific publications and contributor to 10 books, Dr. Klempner is the recipient of the prestigious Squibb and Abbott Awards from the Infectious Diseases Society of America, has been repeatedly cited as one of the Best Doctors in America and elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Internal Medicine, President of the Association of Subspecialty Professors and is currently on the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

In May 2001, Dr. Klempner was recruited to the Boston University Medical Campus where he is currently Associate Provost for Research. In this role, his goals are to stimulate and coordinate multidisciplinary research and to facilitate the interaction of existing strengths across BU’s Charles River and Medical Center campuses. The BUMC research agenda emphasizes urban issues such as substance abuse, environmental health concerns (such as asthma), and the high rates of cancer and diabetes among African-Americans and Latinos. It is hoped to link such research themes to the traditionally underserved populations who are the primary focus of the Medical campus.

In September 2002, Dr. Klempner was named an Associate Editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. As one of only eight associate editors, Dr. Klempner plays a critical role in the process of manuscript review, serving as the initial arbitrator for every original article relating to infectious diseases submitted to the Journal.

In October 2003, Dr. Klempner was named Principal Investigator on a grant from the National Institute of Health to build one of two National Biocontainment Laboratories at BUMC. The building of this laboratory was funded to study and protect the American public against emerging infectious diseases and agents of bioterror.