Brett Giroir

Brett P. Giroir (pronounced jir-WAH) (born November 4, 1960) is an American pediatrician.

He was formerly the U.S. assistant secretary for health, a four-star admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and an acting Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

Giroir currently serves as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors for Altesa BioSciences, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing new treatments for respiratory viruses and global viral threats.

He is also a co-founder and independent director for Revelar Biotherapeutics, and an independent director for OncoNano Medicine]   His non-profit activities include Board service on the Global Virus Network and Remote Area Medical (RAM), and he remains active in global humanitarian initiatives in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa.

He received his A.B. degree in biology from Harvard University, magna cum laude, in 1982.

He was the first to attend college in his family.

Giroir earned his M.D. from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) in Dallas, Texas, in 1986, inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society, and served his residency (1986–1989), chief residency (1989–1990) and fellowship (1990–1991) in pediatrics at the medical center, at Children's Medical Center Dallas and Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Giroir received his post-doctoral training at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Dallas, from 1991 to 1993.

Following his fellowship, Giroir served on the faculty at UTSW (1993–2004), becoming a tenured professor.

He was the inaugural holder of the Associates First Capital Corporation Distinguished Chair in Pediatrics, and the Kathryne and Gene Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Care.

His administrative positions included director of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine and director of the pediatric intensive care units at Children's Medical Center and Parkland.

While continuing to serve full-time at UTSW, Giroir was a member of the Defense Sciences Research Council (DSRC, 1999–2004), an academic and technical assessment council charged with assisting DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) in developing novel, world-changing R&D initiatives.

Giroir co-chaired or participated in studies related to biological weapons decontamination and universal medial countermeasures to biological threats during his appointment with the DSRC.

In 2000, Giroir was named the associate dean for Clinical Affairs at UTSW, while taking on the role as the inaugural chief medical officer at Children's Medical Center Dallas.

Giroir led a medical staff of over 750 physicians.

His research focused on severe life-threatening infectious diseases, including meningococcal disease ("the college meningitis").

Giroir's research was featured on a PBS NOVA entitled "Killer Disease on Campus" which originally aired in 2002.

Giroir has published over 85 academic articles, chapters, and books on a variety of topics including host-pathogen interactions and novel therapies for life-threatening infectious diseases.

He was a member of the external advisory board, NASA National Center for Space Biological Technologies (2003–2007), and the chair on the Chemical and Biological Defense Panel (2009–2010) for the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee (TRAC).

From 2004 to 2008, Giroir served as the deputy director, and then a director, of DARPA's Defense Science Office, vice chancellor for the Texas A&M University System from 2008 to 2013, and as the chief executive officer of the Texas A&M Health Science Center from 2013 to 2015.

In 2004, Giroir accepted a full-time position at DARPA as deputy director of the Defense Sciences Office (DSO), and then as its director from 2007 to 2008.

Among the programs begun during this time were a biodefense thrust known as Accelerating Critical Therapeutics and programs in fundamental mathematics, engineering, and human performance.

During Giroir's tenure, the DSO developed various biodefense programs and other programs related to biosecurity with the goal of developing new technologies and approaches to be transitioned for translation by other agencies.

Giroir was also selected as a member of the Defense Sciences Study Group, a two-year program to develop emerging leaders in science and technology.

Giroir served as vice chancellor for research (2008–2011), vice chancellor for strategic initiatives (2011–2013), and executive vice president and CEO of the Texas A&M Health Science Center (2013–2015).

He held professor appointments in the Texas A&M College of Medicine and the Dwight Look College of Engineering, and an adjunct professor appointment at The Bush School of Government and Public Service.

Giroir's focus was leading the development of the biotechnology initiatives within the Texas A&M University System and the Biocorridor in Brazos County.

In this regard, Giroir was the lead investigator and program director for the design, development, and implementation of the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM), a biopharmaceutical research and development program at Texas A&M University.

Giroir from 2014 to 2015 chaired the independent Blue Ribbon Panel for the Veterans Choice Act, whose assessment and recommendations to reform the Veterans Administration Health System were delivered to Congress and Secretary Robert McDonald in September 2015.

He testified to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs the following month and communicated priorities for VA reform.

Giroir was told on June 1, 2015, that he had 30 minutes to resign or he would be fired.

Giroir starting in 2016 served as president and CEO of ViraCyte, LLC, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing cellular immunotherapies for severe infections.

He also served as a senior fellow at the Texas Medical Center Health Policy Institute and strategic advisor for the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute (TMCII).

He was a member of the Texas Task Force for Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response, and an adjunct professor of pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

He previously served as the 16th assistant secretary for health during the Trump administration from February 15, 2018, to January 19, 2021.

He concurrently served as the secretary's principal public health and science adviser, the senior adviser for the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as well as the senior adviser to the secretary for Opioid Policy.

Giroir served as the Acting Commissioner of Food and Drugs in November and December 2019, while Stephen Hahn's nomination was pending in the Senate.

Giroir graduated from all-male Catholic Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was also served as a drill team commander in the U.S. Marine Corps JROTC.

From 2020 to 2021, he served additionally as the director of the U.S. coronavirus diagnostic testing, and as the U.S. representative on the World Health Organization Executive Board.

As COVID-19 testing czar, he was a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, where he led the government's effort to coordinate diagnostic testing for Covid.