Professor of Medicine

Overview

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Leonard A. Mermel, DO, ScM, AM (Hon), FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA is Professor of Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Adjunct Clinical Professor, University of Rhode Island College of Pharmacy and Medical Director of the Department of Epidemiology & Infection Control for the Brown University Health Hospital System. Dr. Mermel was a Technical Expert Panel Member of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services Patient Safety Monitoring System. He was 2005 President of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and 2014 SHEA Mentor Scholar Award recipient. He was 2016 recipient of The Milton W. Hamolsky Outstanding Physician Award from the Rhode Island Hospital Medical Staff Association. He was the 2021 SHEA Senior Scholarship Award recipient. He was the 2021 Rhode Island ACP Milton Hamolsky Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Physicians. He was past recipient of the Ralph A. Kinsella, Sr. Memorial Tribute Award from St. Louis University Hospitals, the SHEA Young Investigator Award, the Brown Medical School Department of Medicine Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Teaching, Brown Medical School Dean’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Brown Medical School Certificate of Recognition for Exemplary Teaching. Dr. Mermel is also an elected member of Delta Omega, the Honorary Public Health Society. He has been repeatedly included as one of The Best of Rhode Island - Infectious Diseases Physician, Castle Connolly Top Doctors, Consumers’ Checkbook’s Top Doctors, US News & World Report Top Doctors, The Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Doctors, Guide to America’s Top Physicians, Marquis Top Doctors in America, America’s Most Honored Doctors, The Leading Physicians of the World, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in Science & Engineering, and Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award. On his June 15, 2016 birthday, Dr. Mermel received a Senate Citation from the Rhode Island Senate, Certificate of Special Recognition from the Rhode Island Governor, and a Resolution was passed by the Rhode Island House of Representatives observing that day as ‘Dr. Leonard Alan Mermel Day’ in Rhode Island. Dr. Mermel is a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Guideline Development Group for the prevention of bloodstream infections and other infections associated with intravascular catheters. He has co-authored US guidelines dealing with prevention and management of intravascular catheter infections and co-authored 400 articles, textbook chapters, and abstracts dealing with infection control and infectious diseases. He is a recipient of the Highly Cited Researcher Award by Web of Science/Clarivate Analytics. In 2021, he was listed as a "World Expert” in the top 0.1% of scholars writing about bacteremia over the prior 10 years according to Expertscape. In 2024, Dr. Mermel was noted to be in the top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide in ScholarGPS Highly Ranked Scholars.  As of August 2024, his H-Index is 56, Sum of Times Cited is 30,355, and Sum of Times Cited in Patents is 883 according to Web of Science. Drs. Mermel and Classen developed the idea for the Compendium of Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections in Acute Care Hospitals, a standard guidance used in the US and the basis for some National Patient Safety Goals. He is Co-Course Director of the Annual Fellows Course in Healthcare Epidemiology, Infection Prevention, and Antimicrobial Stewardship. He has lectured at the National Institutes of Health, Institute of Medicine, NASA Johnson Space Center, and internationally on infectious disease issues. His research focus has been the prevention of healthcare-associated infections.

Brown Affiliations