David S. Perlin PhD

Dr. David S. Perlin, PhD is Executive Director of the Rutgers RBL. He also serves as Director of the Public Health Research Institute (PHRI) of New Jersey Medical School-Rutgers, a specialized Center for infectious diseases research and he is a Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Dr. Perlin is an internationally recognized research scientist in infectious diseases, and has played a major role in advancing the national research agenda in biodefense and emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Perlin helped establish PHRI as a leading tuberculosis (TB) and opportunistic infections research organization. His group has served as the small animal core for the NIH Region II RCE (Northeast Biodefense Center).

Dr. Perlin’s primary expertise is in fungal infections, mechanisms of antifungal drug resistance, and rapid diagnosis of opportunistic drug resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens in high-risk patients. He has published more than 185 papers and book chapters and has co-authored two books.

His laboratory is supported by grants from the NIH, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. Dr. Perlin was a special consultant to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee's investigation of the 2001 anthrax outbreak and served as consulting microbiologist for the New Jersey Environmental Clearance Committee, which oversaw the anthrax cleanup of the Hamilton Township postal facility.

Dr. Perlin lectures on the global impact of infectious diseases and regularly comments in mainstream media outlets, such as the New York Times. He is on the editorial board of several scientific journals and serves on the Board of Directors of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, and Scientific/Medical Advisory Boards for the CLSI, LIFE, GAFFI, pharma and biotech companies, and PinnacleCare. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Northeast Biodefense Center, and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences