Download Philip W. Smith, M.D. bio

Philip W. Smith, M.D.
Dr. Smith is a professor in the Division of
Infectious Diseases in the Department of
Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska
Medical Center. He served as chief of infectious
diseases at UNMC for 13 years. He has
authored and co-authored numerous articles,
manuscripts, chapters, several poems, and two
books.
He is president of the board and founder of the
award-winning Nebraska Infection Control
Network. He received the Sir William Osler
Teaching Award from the Department of
Internal Medicine at UNMC, the Physician of
Distinction Award from the Nebraska Medicine in 2008, the Robert D. Sparks Award for
Achievement in Public Health and Preventive Medicine from the UNMC College of
Public Health in 2005, and the UNMC Distinguished Scientist Award in 2015. He was
invited to attend the Presidential State of the Union address and a White House
ceremony recognizing caregivers of Ebola patients, both in 2015.
Dr. Smith is very active in bioterrorism preparedness efforts in Nebraska, serving as
co-director of the Nebraska Center for Preparedness Education and medical director of
the Biocontainment Unit. He is lead author on the consensus document on standards
for biocontainment patient care units published in Biosecurity and Bioterrorism in 2006.
He developed the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, specifically designed to care for
highly hazardous infectious diseases patients while maximizing health care worker
safety. It was opened in 2005 by Dr. Julie Gerberding of the CDC. This unit was one
of only three in the United States called upon in 2014 by the State Department to care
for US citizens who acquired Ebola virus disease in Africa. The unit also has been
extensively involved in the training of hospitals in the US and abroad to prepare for
Ebola virus disease patients.
The Biocontainment Unit team has received numerous honors, including being named
Omaha World-Herald “Midlanders of the Year” for 2014.