Tobias M. Hohl, MD, PhD, Chief of the Infectious Diseases Service in the Department of Medicine, was elected a 2022 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world’s largest scientific society and publisher of the Science journals. This title is one of the most distinguished honors within the scientific community and is designed to recognize leaders for their notable contributions to science.
Dr. Hohl has made numerous advances in the field of medical science throughout his career. As Chief of the Infectious Diseases Service, he oversees clinical and laboratory programs that are changing the standard of care for people with cancer. He serves as an inpatient attending physician, preventing and treating infections in immunocompromised patients, including those at high risk of infection after receiving bone marrow transplants.
As head of a laboratory research program, Dr. Hohl and his team investigate immune responses against human fungal pathogens and attributes that make these pathogens more harmful, leading to life-threatening infections in patients with cancer. Dr. Hohl and his lab have pioneered research demonstrating that disruptions to the intestinal microbiome — a collection of bacteria, fungi, yeast, and viruses that live inside the digestive tract — can allow pathogenic fungi to take over, acquire resistance to antifungal prophylaxis, cause systemic infections, and negatively impact clinical outcomes for people with cancer. He and his service have also played a key role in MSK’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic, providing diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic strategies for patients with cancer and COVID-19 infection.
In addition to his position in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Hohl holds appointments in the Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, the Immunology Program of the Sloan Kettering Institute, the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Microbial Pathogenesis Program at Weill Cornell Graduate School, further demonstrating his commitment to the field.
As a 2022 AAAS Fellow, Dr. Hohl joins a network of talented scientists, engineers, and innovators whose novel approaches are helping to solve the world’s most complex problems. Election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor, and all Fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity. The 2022 class of Fellows will be featured in the AAAS News & Notes section of Science in February 2023. You can find a full list of 2022 AAAS Fellows here.
