TIME has named Avindra Nath, M.D., senior investigator and clinical director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), to the inaugural 2024 TIME 100 Health, a new annual list of 100 individuals who most influenced global health. The list recognizes the impact, innovation, and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals in health.
Dr. Nath is a renowned physician-scientist who specializes in neuroimmunology and neurovirology. His research focuses on the clinical manifestations, pathophysiology, and treatment of emerging neurological infections with a focus on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Over the past two decades, Dr. Nath has become an internationally recognized expert in his field, traveling the world to study patients with Ebola, Zika virus, and Nodding syndrome, and he has contributed extensive research on how viruses affect the brain and nervous system.
In recent years, Dr. Nath has received global attention for his timely work on how COVID-19 impacts the brain, including research that identified blood vessel damage in the brains of patients who died from severe COVID-19, discovered an immune response triggered by the virus, and characterized long COVID. This year, he led a landmark clinical study on the chronic, debilitating condition myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The study uncovered previously unknown biological mechanisms that could inform diagnoses and future treatments for ME/CFS and other post-infectious conditions. At NINDS, Dr. Nath continues to study infections of the nervous system and leads clinical trials testing new therapies.
Dr. Nath has been widely recognized for his scientific contributions and leadership, having received several prestigious awards from national and international organizations for his work on COVID-19 and Ebola, particularly during global health crises.