Robert W. Frenck Jr., MD

The research that I’m most interested in is developing vaccines to prevent infections. Vaccines are the most impressive public health measure to reduce the rates of disease. I was inspired to pursue this area of pediatric patient care because infections are still the leading cause of death among children worldwide. I believe that finding methods to reduce infections among children will greatly enhance children's lives and help them grow up into healthy, happy adults.

Vaccines have saved more lives and averted more diseases than any other remedy that exists in medicine. Distributing vaccines around the globe has eliminated smallpox and has nearly eliminated polio. Furthermore, new vaccines are likely to prevent new infections, such as Ebola and COVID-19.

I am Director of the Gamble Center for Clinical Research, where my colleagues and I assess new vaccines and agents designed to prevent infections. I’m also the principal investigator of the Vaccine Treatment and Evaluation Unit (VTEU), which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

At the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, we are one of nine VTEU sites that exist in the United States. Our hospital was selected as a VTEU site due to our extensive history of excellence in vaccine testing.

My research has been published in various journals, including Clinical Infectious Diseases, Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Lancet Infectious Diseases, and the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology: Practical Reports on Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Disease. I’m an acknowledged authority in infectious diseases and have authored more than 125 articles and book chapters.