Raphael Warnock: “I rise today to honor the life of Dr. Sherif R. Zaki, an exceptional leader at the CDC who passed away on November 21…”

“I rise today to honor the life of Dr. Sherif R. Zaki, an exceptional leader at the CDC who passed away on November 21, 2021. Dr. Zaki, who joined the CDC in 1988, was the founder and branch chief of CDC's Infectious Disease Pathology Branch, IDPB. During his tenure at CDC, Dr. Zaki's vision and determination took the pathology laboratory to the forefront of the Agency's work in responding to public health threats posed by various infectious disease agents and established this team to be as one of the most highly respected infectious disease pathology laboratories in the world. Dr. Zaki was an internationally recognized expert in infectious disease pathology, whose work over the past several decades transformed CDC's approach to the integration of pathology as a core component of outbreak investigations. The rigorous and innovative laboratory work carried out by his team has advanced infectious disease experts' knowledge of many pathogens and their role in the human disease process. These included investigations of hantavirus, leptospirosis, West Nile virus, anthrax, SARS coronaviruses, avian and human influenza viruses, Ebola virus, Zika virus, and numerous transplant-associated infections, to name only a few. As an author of hundreds of publications and numerous textbook chapters, he is widely considered to be among the most influential infectious disease pathologists of his generation. As chief of IDPB, Dr.…”