
Chanu Rhee, MD, MPH
Director, SEPSIS Center
Research Focus
Chanu Rhee, MD, MPH is an Associate Professor of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Center for Sepsis Epidemiology and Prevention Studies (SEPSIS) at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. He is also a dual-boarded infectious disease and critical care physician and Medical Director of Infection Control at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Dr. Rhee is internationally recognized for his expertise and contributions to the epidemiology, surveillance, diagnosis, and management of sepsis. His broader interests encompass infection prevention and control, antibiotic resistance and stewardship, and infections in critically ill and immunocompromised patients. He conducts clinical and epidemiologic research with a particular focus on harnessing electronic health record data to generate insights that advance clinical practice, public health strategy, and healthcare policy. His work produced the most comprehensive estimates of the national burden of sepsis and led to the development of CDC’s Adult Sepsis Event surveillance strategy that is now widely used to track sepsis incidence and outcomes and drive improvements in care. He has been a leader in sepsis quality improvement efforts within the Mass General Brigham healthcare system and has served on several national committees focused on enhancing sepsis care and outcomes, including in his current role as Chair of the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s Sepsis Advisory Panel.
Dr. Rhee is an Associate Editor for Clinical Infectious Diseases, a member of the editorial boards of Critical Care Medicine and Critical Care Explorations, and a Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, and the American College of Critical Care Medicine. He has served as principal or lead investigator on multiple federally funded grants, has published over 200 articles and book chapters, and is recognized by ScholarGPS as one of the world’s leading sepsis researchers.