MOBEEN RATHORE
CHIEF, INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND IMMUNOLOGY, WOLFSON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL; CHAIR, BAPTIST SYSTEM INFECTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL COMMITTEE, JACKSONVILLE
Rathore has been with Baptist Health/Wolfson Children’s Hospital for 30 years. He trained as a vaccinologist but saw a need for HIV services when he came to Jacksonville and changed his career goals to providing services for the HIV-infected community. He led the creation of the Center for HIV/AIDS Research, Education and Service in 1994, now the largest and most comprehensive interdisciplinary HIV program in North Florida and the only program serving children, adolescents and pregnant women. It decreased mother-to-baby transmission of HIV from 25% to zero. He has helped respond to several pandemics/epidemics, including SARS, MERS, Ebola, Zika and coronavirus.
| EDUCATION | King Edwards Medical College (MD) |
| CIVIC EFFORT | I led the response to the pandemic for the community by creating and implementing protocols to protect Baptist Health patients, families and the community. I guided the health system throughout the process of vaccine allocation and distribution. I am also conducting research for treatment and prevention of coronavirus infections, including vaccine research especially for children. |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | When I was 14, I became very ill and was in a coma for three days. That is when I really decided to become a physician. That whole experience showed me the care and compassion of my physicians and how they dealt with my parents. |
| NEW HOBBY | I have started cooking and preparing my own meals in an effort to eat healthier. I am not a vegetarian, but I am focusing on a plant-based diet, sleeping seven to eight hours every night and exercising daily. I recently started gardening and yard work since I am not traveling during the pandemic. |
| READING | Medical Apartheid, by Harriet A. Washington |