Janet Reed Gilsdorf, MD, DSc (hc)

Janet R. Gilsdorf, M.D., Robert P. Kelch, M.D. Research Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases, professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases in the Medical School, and professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health, retired from active faculty status on June 30, 2015.

Dr. Gilsdorf received her B.A. degree from North Dakota State University in 1966, her B.S. degree from the University of North Dakota in 1968, and her M.D. degree from the University of Nebraska in 1970. She completed a pediatric internship (1970-71) and residency (1971-72) at the Baylor School of Medicine, a pediatric residency (1977-79) at the Valley Medical Center in Fresno, CA, and a pediatric infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Minnesota (1979-82). Dr. Gilsdorf joined the University of Michigan faculty as an assistant professor in 1982, and was promoted to associate professor in 1989, and professor in 1995. She was named the Robert P. Kelch, M.D. Research Professor of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases in 2010. An extraordinary physician scientist, Dr. Gilsdorf is highly regarded for her clinical, research, educational, and literary achievements. Her research on H. Influenzae utilized a molecular epidemiologic approach to identify virulence genes associated with otitis media, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pharyngeal colonization, and the transmission of bacteria from person to person. Dr. Gilsdorf published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and served on the editorial boards of two prestigious journals. She also earned acclaim for her creative writing and penned a number of manuscripts on the evolution of modern medical practice. Dr. Gilsdorf authored Off to the Left (1999), winner of the Creative Medical Writing Award for Prose from the Journal of General Internal Medicine, and Inside/Outside (2006), which chronicled her own battle with breast cancer from a physician’s point of view. She served as director of Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and co-director of the Center for Molecular and Clinical Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Gilsdorf received the University’s Sarah Goddard Power Award in 2004.

The Regents now salute this distinguished clinician, teacher, and researcher for her dedicated service by naming Janet R. Gilsdorf, professor emerita of pediatrics and communicable diseases and professor emerita of epidemiology.