Adel Mahmoud

Adel K. Mahmoud (August 24, 1941 – June 11, 2018) was an Egyptian-born American doctor and expert in infectious diseases. He was credited with helping with the development of the Gardasil HPV vaccine and the rotavirus vaccine while serving as President of Merck Vaccines. Both the HPV and rotavirus vaccines were under development prior to Mahmoud joining Merck Vaccine Division; he assisted in ensuring that they remained a priority for Merck to continue development to commercial launch. After retiring from Merck he became a professor at Princeton University.

Biography Mahmoud was born on August 24, 1941, in Cairo, Egypt. His father Abdelfattah Mahmoud, who worked as an agricultural engineer, died of pneumonia when Adel was ten. Adel had been sent to buy penicillin, but when he rushed home his father had already died. He was profoundly influenced by the experience. Mahmoud graduated from the Cairo University in 1963 with an MB., BCh. His mother, Fathia Osman, had been accepted by the university's medical school but was prevented from attending by her brother, who thought women should not be doctors. At Merck, he oversaw the development of several important vaccines, including the rotavirus vaccine and the HPV vaccine. The former prevents potentially fatal diarrhea for young children caused by rotavirus, while the latter (Gardasil) prevents several cancers, most importantly cervix cancer, caused by the human papillomavirus.

On June 11, 2018, Mahmoud died from a brain hemorrhage at Mount Sinai St. Luke's Hospital in New York City, at age 76.

Family Mahmoud met Sally Hodder, also an infectious-disease expert, at Case Western Reserve in 1976. They married in 1993. He had a stepson, Jay Thornton.

Mahmoud had a sister, Olfat Abdelfattah, and a brother, Mahmoud Abdelfattah. They are both doctors.