Virginia Caine, MD, was named president-elect of the National Medical Association – which serves as the “collective voice of African American physicians and the leading force for parity and justice in medicine and the elimination of disparities in health” – during the organization’s national convention in New Orleans.
Caine is an associate professor in the Department of Medicine and services as the Marion County Public Health Department Director. As an infectious disease specialist, her clinical interests include HIV and its associated opportunistic infections, skin and soft tissue infections, bacteremia and sepsis.
Caine previously served as the president for American Public Health Association, the nation’s oldest and largest public health organization. She has been an expert on several Centers for Disease Control and Prevention panels, most notably one tasked with drafting CDC guidelines on sexually transmitted diseases.
As part of the National Medicine Association, Caine serves as the chair of the Infectious Diseases Section, co-chair of the HIV/AIDS Section, and a member of the COVID-19 Task Force. Caine was installed as president-elect of the organization on Aug. 1.
Caine earned her medical degree from State University of New York Upstate Medical Center. She completed her residency at the University of Cincinnati and a fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle. Prior to joining the IU School of Medicine faculty in 1994, she worked on the faculty at Johns Hopkins University for more than 10 years.