MICHAEL SAAG

Physician & prominent HIV/Aids researcher

Gaining fame in 2020 for his on-camera advice for curbing the spread of COVID-19, Michael Saag has built a legacy as a leading researcher combatting some of the world’s most deadly contagions.

Michael Saag was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He attended Ballard High School, where he played football and developed an early interest in physical sciences. After high school, he moved to New Orleans to study at Tulane University. He would graduate with a degree in chemistry before returning to his hometown to attend medical school at the University of Louisville. Next he specialized in internal medicine, and went on to UAB for his residency in infectious diseases.

His research and medical training opened doors for him at a critical time in the history of epidemiology. In the early 1990s, as the world struggled to respond to the HIV/AIDS outbreak, Saag dedicated his professional life to researching ways to curb the disease . As one of the leading researchers, he was instrumental in planning, organizing and executing clinical trials of new antiviral drugs to treat HIV and AIDS. His book Positive: One Doctor’s Personal Encounters with Death, Life and the U.S. Health Care System was published in 2014.

After continuing to lead research into drugs capable of slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, Saag turned his attention to a new rapidly spreading contagion. In 2020, Saag and his son both contracted COVID-19. He experienced severe symptoms but ultimately recovered. His personal experience with the infection coupled with his extensive experience as a researcher combatting infectious diseases motivated him to become a leading voice in recommending public health measures to fight the spread of the pandemic He joined other epidemiologists and scientists in recommending the wide use of masks and social distancing. He still works as a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Associate Dean at UAB.