Davidson H. Hamer, MD

Professor, Boston University School of Public Health

Biography

Davidson Hamer, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FASTMH, FISTM is a Professor of Global Health and Medicine at the Boston University School of Public Health and Chobanian & Avesidian School of Medicine, and Adjunct Professor of Nutrition at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Dr. Hamer, a board-certified specialist in infectious diseases with a particular interest in tropical infectious diseases, has extensive field experience in neonatal and child survival research including studies of micronutrient interventions, maternal and neonatal health, malaria, pneumonia, and diarrheal diseases. During the last 20+ years, he has supervised and provided technical support to numerous studies in developing countries that evaluated interventions for improving neonatal survival, integrated community case management (iCCM), improving access for pregnant women to emergency obstetrical care, treatment and prevention of malaria, HIV/AIDS, micronutrient deficiencies, diarrheal disease, and pneumonia. Dr. Hamer received a MD from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and a BA in biology and French from Amherst College. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Infectious Diseases Society of America, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and the International Society of Travel Medicine.

Dr. Hamer currently has active projects in Bangladesh, Uganda, Zambia, and the United States. Major current projects include neonatal sepsis prevention using prebiotics and probiotics in Bangladesh; an autopsy study of fungal infections in HIV-infected patients in Uganda; etiologies of sepsis in HIV-exposed and uninfected children in Zambia; and a prospective cohort study of Chagas disease among US immigrants that includes a biobank. In addition, Dr. Hamer is the Surveillance Lead for the GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, a global network of 70 sites in 31 countries that conducts surveillance of emerging infectious diseases using returning travelers, immigrants, and refugees as sentinels of infection (https://geosentinel.org).

Publications

  • Published 1/1/2026

    Brady SP, Ewell A, Lopera-Perez DC, Rockers PC, Evans D, Coetzee L, Fink G, Hamer DH, Yousafzai AK, Tarullo AR. Physiological Markers of Early Social Skills in Rural South Africa: The Role of Frontal Alpha Asymmetry and Heart Rate Variability. Dev Psychobiol. 2026 Jan; 68(1):e70115. PMID: 41466505.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/26/2025

    Kvitne KE, Allaband C, Onuora JC, Perry D, Zuffa S, Patel L, Charron-Lamoureux V, Mohanty I, Sejane K, Patan A, Mahmud AA, Ahmed T, Bassani DG, González A, Hamer DH, Haque R, Ho B, Hossain MI, Islam MS, McDonald D, Pell LG, Qamar H, Roth DE, Saha S, Shah PS, Siddiqui MM, Sarker SA, Sultana S, Thomas S, Burnett LA, Tsunoda SM, Bode L, Dorrestein PC, Knight R. Environmental and maternal imprints on infant gut metabolic development. Cell Host Microbe. 2025 Dec 10; 33(12):2130-2147.e7. PMID: 41308639.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/25/2025

    Adams QH, Hamer DH, Hutyra LR, Wellenius GA, Shioda K. Modeling the seasonal and climate-dependent dynamics of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil: Implications for transmission and Control. Infect Dis Model. 2026 Jun; 11(2):549-559. PMID: 41488440.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/23/2025

    Flaherty GT, Puppala DR, Chen B, Hamer DH. Descriptive analysis of GeoSentinel publication altmetrics data. J Travel Med. 2025 Nov 23; 32(7). PMID: 41065661.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/21/2025

    Adams QH, Milando CW, Shioda K, Werneck GL, Rodríguez A, Hamer DH, Wellenius GA. Evaluating the contribution of weather variables to machine learning forecasts of visceral leishmaniasis in Brazil. Environ Res Health. 2025 Dec 01; 3(4):045012. PMID: 41281451.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Professor, Medicine
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Faculty, National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab
    Boston University
  • Faculty, Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research
    Boston University
  • Core Co-lead for EIDs, One Health, and Climate Change, Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy & Research
    Boston University
  • Faculty, African Studies Center
    Boston University
  • Member, Pulmonary Center
    Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University
  • Graduate Medical Sciences Educator and Mentor (Primary Mentor of Graduate Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

  • University of Vermont College of Medicine, MD
  • Amherst College, BA