21st Freeman-Seage Symposium on Infectious Disease Epidemiology

Join us for the 21st Freeman Seage Symposium on Tuesday, May 5th, 2026 in honor of Professors Jonathan Freeman and George Seage who were leaders in the field of Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

Oral presentations will take place in FXB 301 from 1:30-4:30 pm followed by a poster reception in the FXB Atrium from 4:30-6:30 pm. Contact CCDD with any questions: ccdd@hsph.harvard.edu.

Jonathan Freeman (1939-2000)

Jonathan Freeman was a faculty member at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health from 1990 until May 2000. He was instrumental in creating and leading the Interdisciplinary Program in Infectious Disease Epidemiology (IPIDE). Freeman designed and taught courses on the investigation and transmission dynamics of infectious disease outbreaks, promoting an active interest in infectious disease epidemiology at a time when it was not widely popular. As a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, he practiced infectious disease medicine at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and the West Roxbury Veterans Affairs. Freeman was also an active member of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, where he taught a famously rigorous course on epidemiology principles for hospital epidemiologists. His research interests included hospital-acquired infections, tuberculosis, and malaria. 

George R. Seage III (1957-2021)

George R. Seage III was a faculty member at Harvard Chan School of Public Health from 1999 until his passing in 2021. He was a valued member of the Department Epidemiology and a leader in the field of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) research. He played a key role in the earliest efforts to understand HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), bringing epidemiologic skills and expertise to the the field. 

Seage was passionate about and dedicated to mentoring the next generation of infectious disease epidemiologists. He contributed to establishing program to mentor early career investigators in the Pediatric HIV/AIDS Cohort Study (PHACS). He was also the co-principal investigator of a T32 graduate training program in infectious disease epidemiology and biodefense and served as the director of the IPIDE.