Dr. Gregory A. Poland

Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Atria; President and Co-Director, Atria Research Institute

New York / South Florida

Dr. Gregory A. Poland is a leading vaccinologist, physician, and infectious disease prevention expert. As the head of the Mayo Clinic’s Vaccine Research Group, his research focuses on understanding how genetics influence vaccine responses, applying sophisticated systems biology to study immunity, and developing novel vaccines against emerging pathogens that threaten public health.

Throughout his nearly 40 years at the Mayo Clinic, Dr. Poland has pioneered several key advances in vaccine science. His lab developed ways to study how a person’s genes affect their response to vaccines, mapped out how the immune system works together as an interconnected network, and created new methods to understand both how vaccines work and their potential side effects.

In addition to his research and teaching responsibilities, Dr. Poland has advised four United States presidents on infectious disease prevention and biodefense, and has consulted for the Department of Defense, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At Atria, Dr. Poland serves as Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer and as President and Co-Director of the Atria Research Institute.

Dr. Poland’s path to medicine began early. After a childhood accident led to surgery at age 4, the procedure led to a fascination with medical science. Dr. Poland wanted to learn more about the human body, so by age 6, he set up his first lab in his family’s basement, and these early experiments solidified his desire to help people through medicine.

Dr. Poland built his scientific foundation at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he earned his B.A. in Biology, before completing his M.D. at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. His training continued at the University of Minnesota/Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, where he completed his internal medicine residency and served as Chief Resident, followed by a year of infectious disease training. At Mayo Clinic he did graduate work in biostatistics, clinical study design, and epidemiology.

During his residency, Dr. Poland experienced a series of remarkable events that shaped his focus on infectious disease prevention. First, Dr. Poland fell ill from a severe case of influenza A. Shortly thereafter, he witnessed a baby nearly die with subsequent loss of hearing due to Hib meningitis and an older patient develop tetanus after a fall in his backyard. All three cases could have been prevented with vaccines. “Back then, doctors and patients did not value prevention and vaccines the way they did the newest powerful antibiotics,” Dr. Poland says. At the time, his residency program did not have a vaccinology fellowship, so he created one.

In 1988, Dr. Poland joined the Mayo Clinic, where he built out his lab and pioneered several areas of vaccine science, including the genetic factors that make vaccines more or less effective. He also developed the field of personalized vaccinology, in which scientists can use someone’s genetics to design an individualized vaccine optimized for the best response. Dr. Poland has published more than 800 scientific papers and book chapters and brought in over $250 million in federal research funding, making his Vaccine Research Group the largest laboratory at the Mayo Clinic.

For Dr. Poland, educating the public and answering questions about vaccines is crucial to preventing infectious diseases. “I take it as a personal mission to build trust,” he says. After four years of seminary and two more years of study, in 2024 Dr. Poland was officially ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, and he currently serves as an assistant pastor at a church in Florida. “We are not just physical beings. We are social beings, we are psychological beings, and we are also spiritual beings,” Dr. Poland says. “We have something to learn from everyone.”

Building on his decades of work in prevention, Dr. Poland joined Atria to help transform health care's fundamental approach. “We are trying to build something that has never been built before,” he says. “Atria is pioneering what many call medicine 3.0—shifting health care from treating illness after it occurs to maintaining wellness through prevention.”

Dr. Poland lives in South Florida with his wife, where he teaches adult Sunday school, preaches at his church, runs, bikes, and lifts weights for exercise, and still spends time working at his Mayo Clinic lab. He also regularly chairs influential scientific meetings and is a sought-after public speaker.

Credentials

Director
Mayo Vaccine Research Group
Research Director
NCH Internal Medicine Residency Program, NCH Healthcare System
Distinguished Investigator
Mayo Clinic
Mary Lowell Leary Endowed Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Mayo Clinic
Professor of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases, and Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Mayo Clinic
Joint Appointment, Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic
Former Director
Immunization Clinic and Services, Mayo Clinic
Former Director
Program in Translational Immunovirology and Biodefense, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic
Former Associate Chair for Research
Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic and Foundation
Former Co-Director
Master’s Program in Clinical Research, Mayo Graduate School
Former Director
Outpatient General Clinical Research Center, Mayo Clinic
Former Associate Program Director
FDA/NIGMS Clinical Pharmacology Training Fellowship Program, Mayo Clinic
Former Associate Program Director for Research Education and Training
Mayo NIH General Clinical Research Center, Mayo Clinic
Former Chief Resident
Department of Internal Medicine, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital
Former Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine
East Tennessee State University College of Medicine
Former Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine
Veterans Administration Medical Center, University of Minnesota

Awards

Mayo Distinguished Investigator
Mayo Clinic Board of Trustees 2013
Lifetime Research Career Achievement Award
Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine 2011
MERIT Award
National Institutes of Health 2011
Secretary of Defense Award for Excellence 2008
Hsu-Li Distinguished Lectureship in International Epidemiology
University of Iowa Department of Epidemiology 2007
Charles Merieux Lifetime Achievement Award in Vaccinology 2006
Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service 2003

Affiliations

Founder and President
Edward Jenner Society
Member
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Member
American Society of Microbiology
Member
American Society for Clinical Pharmacology
Member
International Society for Travel Medicine
Executive Committee Member
National Coalition for Adult Immunization
Fellow
American College of Physicians
Master
American College of Physicians
Member
American Federation for Medical Research
Member
Association of Program Directors of Internal Medicine
Member
Minnesota Medical Association
Member
American Medical Association
Fellow
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Member
International Positive Psychology Association
Member
World Association of Medical Editors
Fellow
Royal College of Physicians (London)
Member
Healthy Longevity Medical Society
Emeritus Editor in Chief
Vaccine
Former President
Department of Defense’s Defense Health Board
Former President
Armed Forces Epidemiological Board

Meet Our Doctors

Dr. David W. Dodick

Chief Science & Medical Officer, Atria; Co-Director, Atria Academy of Science & Medicine

Dr. Paul G. Lee

Co-Chair of International Executive Health; Internal Medicine

Dr. Richard S. Isaacson

Director of the Atria Precision Prevention Program

Dr. Lawrence C. Newman

Director of the Atria Brain Health Program

Dr. Jennifer Buczyner

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Dr. Louis R. DePalo

Medical Director, Atria New York; Internal Medicine; Pulmonology

Dr. Caleb Moore

Medical Director of Atria Palm Beach; Internal Medicine

Dr. Laura Balda

Site Director of Atria Palm Beach; Family Medicine

Dr. Gregory A. Poland

Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Atria; President and Co-Director, Atria Research Institute

Dr. Jaime Burkle

Chair of Cardiology

Dr. Benjamin H. Lewis

Director of Research & Atria Registry; Cardiology

Dr. Rony Shimony

Director of Cardiology, Atria New York; Co-Chair of International Executive Health

Dr. Gabrielle Page-Wilson

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Internal Medicine

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Internal Medicine

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Family Medicine

Dr. Paul Fenyves

Internal Medicine

Dr. Daniel Yadegar

Internal Medicine; Cardiology

Dr. Bernard M. Kruger

Internal Medicine

Dr. Daniel Angerbauer

Preventive Medicine

Robert Kachko

Director of Integrative Health | ND, LAc

Dr. Nicholas D. Caputo

Director of Urgent & Home Care, Atria New York

Dr. Alex Heromin

Director of Urgent & Home Care, Atria Palm Beach; Emergency Medicine

Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri

Director of Geriatrics

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor

Chair of Women’s Health & Gynecology

Dr. Roberta Reilly

Gynecology

Dr. Panta Rouhani Schaffer

Dermatology

Kyle O’Flaherty

Director of Movement | DPT

Jonathan Filipe

Movement | DPT

Will Sands

Movement | MSc

Peter Modera

Movement | PT, DPT

Adam Ross

Nutrition | RD

Sunny Bozymski

Nutrition | MS, RD

Christina Schreckengaust

Nutrition | MPH, RD, CMDR (USN)

Dr. Kelly Fradin

Chair of Pediatrics; Chair of Home Services

Dr. Hina J. Talib

Director of Adolescent Medicine; Co-Director of Pediatrics, Atria New York

Dr. Cory Kercher

Director of Pediatrics, Atria New York

Dr. Amish Nishawala

Pediatrics

Dr. Robyn Rosenblum

Pediatrics

Dr. Kersha S. Pennicott

Pediatrics & Urgent Care

Dr. Samira Brown

Director of Pediatrics, Atria South Florida

Dr. Petra McEwan

Pediatrics

Dr. David W. Dodick

Chief Science & Medical Officer, Atria; Co-Director, Atria Academy of Science & Medicine

Dr. Paul G. Lee

Co-Chair of International Executive Health; Internal Medicine

Dr. Richard S. Isaacson

Director of the Atria Precision Prevention Program

Dr. Lawrence C. Newman

Director of the Atria Brain Health Program

Dr. Jennifer Buczyner

Neurology

Dr. Louis R. DePalo

Medical Director, Atria New York; Internal Medicine; Pulmonology

Dr. Caleb Moore

Medical Director of Atria Palm Beach; Internal Medicine

Dr. Laura Balda

Site Director of Atria Palm Beach; Family Medicine

Dr. Gregory A. Poland

Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Atria; President and Co-Director, Atria Research Institute

Dr. Jaime Burkle

Chair of Cardiology

Dr. Benjamin H. Lewis

Director of Research & Atria Registry; Cardiology

Dr. Rony Shimony

Director of Cardiology, Atria New York; Co-Chair of International Executive Health

Dr. Gabrielle Page-Wilson

Director of Endocrinology & Metabolic Health; Internal Medicine

Dr. Jahangir Rahman

Internal Medicine

Dr. Jennifer McGugins Hill

Internal Medicine

Dr. Edward J. Greaney

Internal Medicine

Dr. Yadiera M. Brown

Family Medicine

Dr. Paul Fenyves

Internal Medicine

Dr. Daniel Yadegar

Internal Medicine; Cardiology

Dr. Bernard M. Kruger

Internal Medicine

Dr. Daniel Angerbauer

Preventive Medicine

Robert Kachko

Director of Integrative Health | ND, LAc

Dr. Nicholas D. Caputo

Director of Urgent & Home Care, Atria New York

Dr. Alex Heromin

Director of Urgent & Home Care, Atria Palm Beach; Emergency Medicine

Dr. Evelyn C. Granieri

Director of Geriatrics

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor

Chair of Women’s Health & Gynecology

Dr. Roberta Reilly

Gynecology

Dr. Panta Rouhani Schaffer

Dermatology

Kyle O’Flaherty

Director of Movement | DPT

Jonathan Filipe

Movement | DPT

Will Sands

Movement | MSc

Peter Modera

Movement | PT, DPT

Adam Ross

Nutrition | RD

Sunny Bozymski

Nutrition | MS, RD

Christina Schreckengaust

Nutrition | MPH, RD, CMDR (USN)

Dr. Kelly Fradin

Chair of Pediatrics; Chair of Home Services

Dr. Hina J. Talib

Director of Adolescent Medicine; Co-Director of Pediatrics, Atria New York

Dr. Cory Kercher

Director of Pediatrics, Atria New York

Dr. Amish Nishawala

Pediatrics

Dr. Robyn Rosenblum

Pediatrics

Dr. Kersha S. Pennicott

Pediatrics & Urgent Care

Dr. Samira Brown

Director of Pediatrics, Atria South Florida

Dr. Petra McEwan

Pediatrics

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Dr. David W. Dodick

Chief Science & Medical Officer, Atria; Co-Director, Atria Academy of Science & Medicine

Dr. Gregory A. Poland

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