John Gerrard (doctor)

Gerrard has a record in research of emerging infectious diseases and vaccine development, investigating AIDS in Australia and dealing with the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014.

[3] Gerrard has additionally become notable during the COVID-19 Pandemic, previously working as a director of infectious diseases at the Gold Coast University Hospital and being the first doctor in Queensland to treat a COVID-19 patient.

He identified the nation's first known person with AIDS, 12 years after the patient died of a "mystery" pneumonia, which proved HIV was in Australia from February 1981.

[1] Gerrard assisted in designing the Gold Coast University Hospital to be able to deal with an outbreak of an airborne infectious disease such as COVID-19.

Gerrard commenced his role in mid-December 2021,[3] just as the state was in the process of reopening its borders to travellers from COVID hotspots, specifically those in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.