Taison Bell, MD, MBA

Dr. Bell is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the divisions of Infectious Disease and Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine at the University of Virginia. He is also Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and Director of the UVA Summer Medical Leadership Program—a medical school preparatory program for under-represented and disadvantaged students. Dr. Bell joined the faculty in 2017 after completing a critical care fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. Prior to that he completed internal medicine residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital—where he was a chief resident—and infectious disease fellowship at the Harvard Combined Mass General Brigham program. Dr. Bell is co-founder and co-CEO of Owl Peak Labs, a Biotechnology startup based in Charlottesville, VA working to create innovative in-home colorectal cancer screening solutions.

Dr. Bell has been a key leader in UVA’s response to the COVID-19. He was instrumental in leading a team of engineers, architects, seamstresses, and nurses to design, produce, and distribute personal protective equipment for the Charlottesville area and Commonwealth. He is part of an innovative rapid-deployment team that provides in-person and telehealth care support for long-term care facilities overwhelmed with COVID-19 outbreaks. Dr. Bell was also a co-Principle Investigator for the NIH-sponsored Remdesivir trial—the first drug proven in a randomized study to be effective for the treatment of COVID-19. Dr. Bell has advanced the cause for racial justice in healthcare, joining colleagues to demand transparency from the CDC in reporting race and ethnicity in COVID-19 cases and related outcomes.

Dr. Bell has been actively involved in science communication throughout the pandemic. His expertise has been sought by several local, national, and international news outlets, including National Public Radio, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, BBC World News, The New Yorker, Politico, Buzzfeed, Stat News, and Yahoo Finance. Dr. Bell was awarded the United Way Caring for Community Award as a healthcare provider who has gone above and beyond during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He is recognized as Business Insider’s “Top 30 Leaders Under 40 who are Transforming the Future of Healthcare.” Dr. Bell is featured in the Alex Gibney documentary “Totally Under Control” about the federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic.