Joel G. Breman

Dr. Joel Gordon Breman passed away April 6, 2024 in Chevy Chase, Maryland, after a full and uniquely impactful life. A deeply loved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, friend and colleague to so many in the global health community, Joel was known for his kindness, optimism, humor, athleticism, passion for social service, mentoring the next generation of global epidemiologists, and love for the African continent. He was a dedicated leader in the smallpox eradication program, a pioneer in the discovery of the Ebola virus, and part of the global fight to control and eliminate malaria, among many other scourges.

Joel was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he was student body president and a football player at Hamilton High School. He went on to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - where he was President of his fraternity and rowed Varsity Crew- then earned his M.D. from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California (USC). Joel’s medical school advisor piqued his interest in global health, which led to his participation in the Centers for Disease Control’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) program, Infectious Disease training at Harvard Medical School, and a Doctorate of Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Joel met Vicki - the love of his life and wife of nearly 58 years – while completing his residency at Los Angeles County Hospital. Shortly thereafter they set off together on a remarkable lifelong global adventure. Joel worked on smallpox eradication, measles control, and disease surveillance as a CDC assignee to Guinea, Burkina Faso (Upper Volta), and the World Health Organization in Geneva. Encouraged to get more domestic health experience, Joel briefly became an EIS Officer on the Michigan State Health Department’s taskforce to combat a Botulism outbreak. He then got a call from the CDC to investigate an unusually lethal disease outbreak in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) – a several-month expedition, in partnership with local and international health officials, which led to the discovery of what we now know was the Ebola Virus. Soon thereafter, Joel was tabbed to be Chief of Control, Surveillance, and Epidemiology for the International Commission to Investigate and Control Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever in Zaire.

Following the eradication of smallpox in 1980, Joel returned to the CDC to work on malaria treatment and control in Africa. In 1993, he followed his wife Vicki, an environmental lawyer, to Washington, DC, where he became Director of the National Vaccine Program Office in Washington, DC, before joining the emerging infectious diseases program at the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center. Joel led the Division of International Training, granting large-scale support to infectious disease, research and training programs in developing countries. Upon retirement, Joel became Senior Scientist Emeritus at the National Institutes of Health, a role he held until his death. Joel authored over 100 publications focused on infectious disease control, training, and research in developing countries.

Joel and Vicki established the Breman Global Health Immersion Fellowship at USC Keck School of Medicine’s Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. Breman Fellows receive support while gaining field, programmatic, clinical or laboratory research experience in global health and public service careers. In “retirement” Joel taught a course on disease control at The George Washington University’s School of Public Health, was President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), and consulted for the WHO, The Carter Center, the Gates Foundation, USAID, FDA, and the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria. He and Vicki also joined Adat Shalom missions to help rebuild Haitian communities after the earthquake. Joel’s global adventures have been featured in popular media including "The Hot Zone” by Richard Preston and "The Coming Plague" by Laurie Garrett. He has two publications forthcoming this year: his personal memoir, as well as a medical textbook from Oxford University Press on The Principles and Practice of Disease Eradication.

Besides these remarkable professional accomplishments, Joel had a rich personal life. He had a hearty, frequent laugh and was a lover of full moons, colorful clothing, licorice and music (from reggae to Michael Jackson to Joan Baez and everything in between). He proudly coached son Matthew’s soccer teams, played the Clarinet, was in a writing club, and served as an “Orange Hat” neighborhood security patrol when he and Vicki lived on Capitol Hill. He enjoyed hiking (the John Muir trail was a favorite), ski trips with his family, rowing on the Potomac, biking with Vicki and friends through the US and Europe, and jogging until his early 80s. He loved family vacations with his children and grandchildren, including memorable trips to Brazil (where he celebrated his 70th birthday dancing down the streets of Salvador, Bahia during Carnaval), Costa Rica, India, Israel, Jamaica, and Sicily. He summited Mt. Kilimanjaro in East Africa with his daughter Johanna.

Joel is survived, and already greatly missed, by his wife Vicki; children Matthew (Rachel) Breman and Johanna (Tomer) Tzur; and grandchildren Sebastian, Aviva, and Leora Breman and Eden, Arielle, and Felix Tzur. He was predeceased by his father Herman, mother Irene, and brother Kenneth.

Joel will be remembered as a calm, fun-loving, and devoted husband, father, grandfather, colleague and friend to all who met him.

Donations in Joel's memory can be made to the USC Breman Fellowship program at this link

https://giveto.usc.edu/Donation

Or to Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation

https://adatshalom.net/give/donation-form/