Alfred Sommer

Sommer was born on October 2, 1942, in New York City. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York and graduated summa cum laude in 1963. At Union College, Sommer received a Bachelor of Science in biology, with a minor in history.Union College Magazine. Spring 2014. https://www.union.edu/news/stories/2014/05/supportive-teachers-make-all-the-difference.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027074710/https://www.union.edu/news/stories/2014/05/supportive-teachers-make-all-the-difference.php |date=2017-10-27 }} Accessed on 2017-05-15. Sommer attended Harvard Medical School and obtained his MD in 1967. He served as a medical intern and resident at Harvard University's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (formerly Beth Israel Hospital) from 1967 to 1969.{{Cite web|url=http://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8080/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=JHMI&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_1051&logoLink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu%2F&leftWelcomeWidth=525&SearchKeyword=alfred+sommer|title=Sommer, Alfred - c.1980-1990|last=Day|first=Harry|date=1980–1990|website=The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027125825/http://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8080/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=JHMI&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_1051&logoLink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu%2F&leftWelcomeWidth=525&SearchKeyword=alfred+sommer|archive-date=2017-10-27|access-date=2017-04-28|url-status=bot: unknown}}

In 1969, Sommer joined the Public Health Service as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and moved overseas with his family to work in the Cholera Research Laboratory in Dhaka, Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan),{{Cite web|url=http://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8080/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=JHMI&UserName=wa+public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_1051&logoLink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu%2F&leftWelcomeWidth=525&SearchKeyword=alfred+sommer|title=Sommer, Alfred - c.1980-1990|last=McCollum|first=Elmer|date=1980–1990|website=The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027125825/http://medicalarchives.jhmi.edu:8080/webcat/request/DoMenuRequest?SystemName=JHMI&UserName=wa%20public&Password=&TemplateProcessID=6000_1051&logoLink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.medicalarchives.jhmi.edu%2F&leftWelcomeWidth=525&SearchKeyword=alfred%20sommer|archive-date=2017-10-27|access-date=2017-04-29|url-status=bot: unknown}} where he conducted the first formal epidemiologic investigation of a major disaster: the 1970 cyclone that washed away a quarter of a million people in a single night.{{Cite journal|last1=Sommer|first1=A.|last2=Mosley|first2=W. H.|date=1972-05-13|title=East Bengal cyclone of November, 1970. Epidemiological approach to disaster assessment|journal=Lancet|volume=1|issue=7759|pages=1029–1036|issn=0140-6736|pmid=4112181|doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(72)91218-4}} He assisted Bangladeshis in their Liberation War and, in 2013, the Bangladesh government bestowed upon him the “Friends of Liberation War Honour” for his contributions during the revolution.{{Cite web|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2013/sommer_bangladesh.html|title=Sommer Named a "Foreign Friend" by Government of Bangladesh|last=Wood-Wright|first=Natalie|website=Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health|language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2017-10-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027231433/https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2013/sommer_bangladesh.html|url-status=dead}}

In 1972, Sommer returned to the United States and continued his education at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health (which became known as the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2000). Upon completing his Master of Health Sciences degree in epidemiology there, Sommer spent three years as a resident and fellow in ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute (associated with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) from 1973 to 1976.

Following his training at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Sommer and his family moved to Indonesia, where he began his groundbreaking work on vitamin A deficiency. Following that, he moved to London as a visiting professor at the Institute of Ophthalmology. Then, in 1980, he returned to the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute as the founding director of the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology.{{cite web |url=http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/research/dana-center/history.html/ |title=Our History | the Dana Center at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute |website=www.hopkinsmedicine.org |access-date=2017-05-15 |archive-date=2020-08-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815095402/https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/wilmer/research/dana-center/history.html/ |url-status=live }} He held this position until 1990 when he assumed the position of dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. While serving as the dean of the Bloomberg School, Sommer expanded both the faculty and student bodies and raised hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate and dramatically expand the School's physical plant and its research and educational programs.{{Cite web|url=http://pages.jh.edu/news_info/news/univ05/may05/klag.html|title=Klag Named Dean of Bloomberg School of Public Health|last=Shea|first=Dennis|date=May 16, 2005|website=Headlines@Hopkins|publisher=JHU Press Releases|access-date=10 October 2016|archive-date=11 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011055424/http://pages.jh.edu/news_info/news/univ05/may05/klag.html|url-status=live}} Sommer's efforts helped the school attain the #1 spot on the U.S. News & World Report Graduate Schools of Public Health ranking, a prestigious title it still holds to this day.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/public-health-rankings|title=Best Public Health Programs|date=2015|website=U.S. News & World Report|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170307193145/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-health-schools/public-health-rankings|archive-date=2017-03-07|url-status=dead|access-date=July 5, 2017}} Sommer served as dean of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health until 2005,Alfred Sommer Biography, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. [https://web.archive.org/web/20020823175514/http://faculty.jhsph.edu/?F=Alfred&L=Sommer] when he returned to work as a professor and researcher of both epidemiology and ophthalmology. Sommer is currently a Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor,{{cite web |url=https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/university-distinguished-service-professorships/ |title=University Distinguished Service Professorships |website=professorships.jhu.edu |date=7 October 2016 |access-date=2017-05-15 |archive-date=2017-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503220538/https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/university-distinguished-service-professorships/ |url-status=live }} inaugural Gilman Scholar,JHU Gazette March 11, 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20170503213033/http://archive.gazette.jhu.edu/2011/03/14/university-taps-17-as-inaugural-gilman-scholars/] Accessed 2017-05-15 and Dean Emeritus of the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In the mid-1980s, Sommer initiated and led the development of one of the first, and still rigorously updated, clinical guidelines of any medical specialty: the "Preferred Practice Patterns" of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.{{cite journal|title=PPPs-Twenty Years and Counting|year=2008|doi=10.1016/j.ophtha.2008.09.032|last1=Sommer|first1=Alfred|last2=Abbott|first2=Richard L.|last3=Lum|first3=Flora|last4=Hoskins|first4=H. Dunbar|journal=Ophthalmology|volume=115|issue=12|pages=2125–2126|pmid=19041472}}

Sommer initiated his research on the causes and effects of vitamin A deficiency while still a resident at the Wilmer Institute.{{Cite journal|last=Sommer|first=Alfred|date=1976|title=Assessment of xerophthalmia and the mass vitamin A prophylaxis program in El Salvador (September 1973 - December 1974).|journal=Environmental Child Health|volume=22|issue=3|pages=135–148|doi=10.1093/tropej/22.3.135|pmid=1051429}} After completing his residency, Sommer moved his family to Indonesia for three years to continue this work in depth. He was appointed Visiting Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Padjadjaran in Indonesia. Sommer conducted a sequence of observational and intervention trials in Indonesia, and subsequently elsewhere, that led to his discovery that Vitamin A deficiency reduces immune responsiveness, and therefore resistance to deadly infectious diseases, especially diarrhea and measles.

Sommer was forced to repeat his experiments multiple times before convincing the scientific community of the importance of Vitamin A deficiency in contributing to the death and blindness of nearly a million children every year, and the effectiveness of one large oral dose of vitamin A, twice a year, in preventing these outcomes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.unicef.org/pon95/nutr0002.html|title=A bridge too near|website=www.unicef.org|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2018-02-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210120952/https://www.unicef.org/pon95/nutr0002.html|url-status=dead}} Sommer solidified scientific support by organizing an international conference on the issue at the Rockefeller Foundation center for study in Bellagio, Italy. The scientists at the conference concluded that almost any intervention that substantially improved children's vitamin A status, including the use of twice yearly large dose capsules, which was the focus of Sommer's research, was shown to reduce the child mortality rate of these Vitamin A deficient children by as much as 34 percent.{{cite journal | last1 = Sommer | first1 = A | year = 1992 | title = Vitamin A deficiency and childhood mortality (Conference at Bellagio) | journal = Lancet | volume = 339 | issue = 8797| page = 864 | doi=10.1016/0140-6736(92)90298-h| s2cid = 54432530 }} He also conducted studies in which he supplemented Nepalese women of childbearing age with Vitamin A/beta-carotene and observed a 45% reduction in the maternal mortality rate.{{Cite journal|last1=West|first1=K. P.|last2=Katz|first2=J.|last3=Khatry|first3=S. K.|last4=LeClerq|first4=S. C.|last5=Pradhan|first5=E. K.|last6=Shrestha|first6=S. R.|last7=Connor|first7=P. B.|last8=Dali|first8=S. M.|last9=Christian|first9=P.|date=1999-02-27|title=Double blind, cluster randomised trial of low dose supplementation with vitamin A or beta carotene on mortality related to pregnancy in Nepal. The NNIPS-2 Study Group|journal=BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.)|volume=318|issue=7183|pages=570–575|issn=0959-8138|pmc=27760|pmid=10037634|doi=10.1136/bmj.318.7183.570}} Sommer and his colleagues conducted further trials on the impact of dosing newborn children in populations that were vitamin A deficient vitamin A supplementation in newborns, repeatedly demonstrating that it reduced newborn mortality by 10-20%.{{Cite journal|last1=Klemm|first1=Rolf D. W.|last2=Labrique|first2=Alain B.|last3=Christian|first3=Parul|last4=Rashid|first4=Mahbubur|last5=Shamim|first5=Abu Ahmed|last6=Katz|first6=Joanne|last7=Sommer|first7=Alfred|last8=West|first8=Keith P.|date=2008-07-01|title=Newborn Vitamin A Supplementation Reduced Infant Mortality in Rural Bangladesh|url=http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/122/1/e242|journal=Pediatrics|language=en|volume=122|issue=1|pages=e242–e250|doi=10.1542/peds.2007-3448|issn=0031-4005|pmid=18595969|s2cid=27427577|access-date=2017-05-05|archive-date=2017-08-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814143107/http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/122/1/e242|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}

Sommer made a number of other discoveries that have led to major advances in global health care and policies, including demonstrating that measurement of mid-arm-circumference (MUAC) is a simple and effective tool for conducting nutritional surveillance and identifying children and populations at high risk of dying from malnutrition;{{Cite journal|last1=Sommer|first1=A.|last2=Loewenstein|first2=M. S.|date=March 1975|title=Nutritional status and mortality: a prospective validation of the QUAC stick|journal=The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition|volume=28|issue=3|pages=287–292|issn=0002-9165|pmid=1119424|doi=10.1093/ajcn/28.3.287|doi-access=free}} that the easily assessed appearance of the nerve fiber layer in the retina is an early, accurate predictor of glaucomatous optic nerve damage indicating the need to initiate glaucoma therapy;{{Cite journal|last1=Sommer|first1=A.|last2=Miller|first2=N. R.|last3=Pollack|first3=I.|last4=Maumenee|first4=A. E.|last5=George|first5=T.|date=December 1977|title=The nerve fiber layer in the diagnosis of glaucoma|journal=Archives of Ophthalmology|volume=95|issue=12|pages=2149–2156|issn=0003-9950|pmid=588106|doi=10.1001/archopht.1977.04450120055003}} and that vaccination for smallpox as long as 6 days after infection can prevent the disease,{{Cite journal|last=Sommer|first=A.|date=April 1974|title=The 1972 smallpox outbreak in Khulna Municipality, Bangladesh. II. Effectiveness of surveillance and containment in urban epidemic control|journal=American Journal of Epidemiology|volume=99|issue=4|pages=303–313|issn=0002-9262|pmid=4818720|doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121615}} an observation that forestalled mass vaccination of primary responders following 9/11.{{Cite journal|last=Jamrog|first=Diane C.|date=2007|title=Modeling responses to anthrax and smallpox attacks|url=https://www.ll.mit.edu/sites/default/files/page/doc/2019-02/17_1_6Jamrog.pdf|journal=Lincoln Laboratory Journal|volume=17|pages=1}}

File:Epidemiology and Statsitics for the Ophthalmologist By Alfred Sommer.jpg

Alfred Sommer has received multiple awards for his research, including the Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (1997),Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award. http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/1997clinical.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423004141/http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/1997clinical.htm |date=2009-04-23 }} Accessed on 2009-03-19 the Danone International Prize for Nutrition (2001),Danone Institute Prize for Nutrition. http://www.danoneinstitute.org/danone_institute_prize_for_nutrition/awardees/index.php {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316082448/http://www.danoneinstitute.org/danone_institute_prize_for_nutrition/awardees/index.php |date=2009-03-16 }} Accessed on 2009-03-19 the Dan David Prize{{cite web |title=Alfred Sommer |url=https://dandavidprize.org/laureates/alfred-sommer/ |access-date=2023-10-11 |website=Dan David Prize |date=9 November 2021 |archive-date=2023-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231128011438/https://dandavidprize.org/laureates/alfred-sommer/ |url-status=live }}{{title missing|date=May 2022}} (2013), and the Helen Keller Prize for Vision Research,[http://helenkellerfoundation.org/alfred-sommer/ Alfred Sommer - Helen Keller Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160920184625/http://helenkellerfoundation.org/alfred-sommer/ |date=2016-09-20 }} (with video) the Lucien Howe Medal of the American Ophthalmological Society,{{Cite web|url=https://www.aosonline.org/annual-meeting/annual-meeting-archives/a-continuation-of-wheelers-first-hundred-years-10/|title=Lucian Howe Medal Recipients|website=www.aosonline.org|language=en|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2024-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701043845/https://www.aosonline.org/annual-meeting/annual-meeting-archives/medal-recipients/|url-status=live}} the Laureate Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology{{cite web |url=https://www.aao.org/about/awards/laureate/alfred-sommer |title=2011 Laureate Alfred Sommer, MD, MHS - American Academy of Ophthalmology |website=www.aao.org |access-date=2017-05-15 |archive-date=2016-04-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420220800/http://www.aao.org/about/awards/laureate/alfred-sommer |url-status=live }} (2011), the Duke Elder and Gonin Medals of the International Council of Ophthalmology,{{Cite web|url=http://www.icoph.org/about/award_and_medal_recipients.html|title=International Council of Ophthalmology : About the ICO : Award and Medal Recipients|website=www.icoph.org|language=en|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2017-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170712052039/http://www.icoph.org/about/award_and_medal_recipients.html|url-status=dead}} the Pollin Prize in Pediatric Research (Columbia University),{{Cite web|url=http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2004/sommer-pollin.html|title=ALFRED SOMMER AWARDED PRESTIGIOUS POLLIN PRIZE|website=Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health|date=17 December 2004 |language=en-US|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2020-05-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200514060510/https://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2004/sommer-pollin.html|url-status=live}} the E.H. Christopherson Lectureship (American Academy of Pediatrics),{{Cite journal|date=2000-12-01|others=American Academy of Pediatrics|title=AAP Gateway|url=http://www.aappublications.org/content/aapnews/17/6/275.full.pdf|journal=AAP News|language=en|volume=17|issue=6|issn=1073-0397|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2024-07-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240701043846/http://www.aappublications.org/content/aapnews/17/6/275.full.pdf|url-status=live}} the Prince Mahidol Award (from the King of Thailand),{{Cite web|url=http://www.princemahidolaward.org/laureates-firstname.en.php|title=Prince Mahidol Award Foundation under the Royal Patronage|website=www.princemahidolaward.org|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170708034129/http://www.princemahidolaward.org/laureates-firstname.en.php|archive-date=2017-07-08|url-status=dead}} and the Warren Alpert Research Prize from Harvard Medical School in 2003,{{Cite web|url=https://www.warrenalpert.org/prize-recipients|title=Prize Recipients {{!}} warrenalpert.org|website=www.warrenalpert.org|language=en|access-date=2017-07-05|archive-date=2017-06-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629113251/https://www.warrenalpert.org/prize-recipients|url-status=live}} among other honors. The 2005 PBS documentary Rx for Survival featured Sommer as a "global health champion."Rx for Survival: Global Health Champions. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/champions/alfred_sommer.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005070434/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/champions/alfred_sommer.html |date=2017-10-05 }} Accessed on 2009-03-19. Several institutions around the world have bestowed honorary doctoral degrees to Dr. Sommer, including Johns Hopkins University and McGill University.

McGill’s Honorary Degree recipients for Spring Convocation 2019. https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/mcgills-honorary-degree-recipients-spring-convocation-2019-296322 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120213735/https://www.mcgill.ca/newsroom/channels/news/mcgills-honorary-degree-recipients-spring-convocation-2019-296322 |date=2021-11-20 }} Accessed on 2022-11-08.Johns Hopkins announces seven honorary degree recipients for 2022 Commencement. https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/05/06/johns-hopkins-honorary-degrees-2022/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221108160715/https://hub.jhu.edu/2022/05/06/johns-hopkins-honorary-degrees-2022/ |date=2022-11-08 }} Accessed on 2022-11-08.

Sommer is an elected member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.

Sommer's current research interests include the diagnosis and management of glaucoma, improved child survival and blindness prevention strategies, and micronutrient interventions, in addition to other projects in both epidemiology and ophthalmology.

In 2004, Michael Bloomberg, former chair of the Johns Hopkins University's board of trustees, donated $22 million to establish the Sommer Scholars Program at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in honor of Dr. Sommer. The programs aims to "recruit the next generation of public health leaders to devise new, effective interventions to improve global health."New Scholarship to Recruit Public Health Leaders of The Future. http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/PR_2004/Sommer_Scholars.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218120811/http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/press_releases/PR_2004/Sommer_Scholars.html |date=2010-02-18 }} Additionally, as a consequence of gifts from other supporters, the Bloomberg School's Department of Molecular Microbiology is chaired by the "Alfred and Jill Sommer Professor";{{cite web |url=https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/alfred-and-jill-sommer-professorship-and-chairmanship-in-molecular-microbiology-and-immunology |title=Alfred and Jill Sommer Professorship and Chairmanship in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology |website=professorships.jhu.edu |date=16 June 2016 |access-date=2017-05-15 |archive-date=2017-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503181555/https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/alfred-and-jill-sommer-professorship-and-chairmanship-in-molecular-microbiology-and-immunology/ |url-status=live }}{{title missing|date=July 2022}} the "Dana Center of the Wilmer Eye Institute is led by the "Alfred Sommer Professor of Ophthalmology";{{cite web |url=https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/alfred-sommer-professorship-ophthalmology/ |title=Alfred Sommer Professorship in Ophthalmology |website=professorships.jhu.edu |date=17 October 2016 |access-date=2017-05-15 |archive-date=2017-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503205323/https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/alfred-sommer-professorship-ophthalmology/ |url-status=live }} and the main auditorium of the Bloomberg School is named "Sommer Hall."

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Category:1942 births

Category:Living people

Category:American ophthalmologists

Category:Jewish American scientists

Category:Harvard Medical School alumni

Category:Union College (New York) alumni

Category:Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni

Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences

Category:Recipients of the Lasker–DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award

Category:American public health doctors

Category:Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health faculty

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:Members of the National Academy of Medicine