In early 2020, life as we knew it was put on hold by COVID-19, and the ensuing global pandemic changed everything. The Discover UofSC 2021 keynote speaker, Dr. Helmut Albrecht, has been on the front lines of the COVID-19 battle since the very beginning. Dr. Albrecht serves as the Heyward Gibbes Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at the UofSC School of Medicine and the Medical Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy for Prisma Health and UofSC. Dr. Albrecht was one of the first South Carolina physicians treating COVID-19 patients in the Prisma Health System. As he worked to treat our friends, family and neighbors, Dr. Albrecht was on the cutting edge of learning—in the hands-on, clinical setting—how to best counter this novel pathogen.

Dr. Albrecht’s distinguished career prepared him well for the challenge of COVID-19. He received his medical degree from the University of Hamburg where he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in gastroenterology. He then completed a fellowship in infectious diseases and a residency in internal medicine at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Albrecht’s clinical work has included serving as Chief of Medicine and Chief of Staff for Palmetto Health Richland, working in the role of Chief of the UofSC Infectious Diseases Division and as the Department Chair of Internal Medicine for the Prisma Health Medical Group and UofSC.

Dr. Albrecht also has considerable study experience as investigator, principal or coordinating investigator of multiple national and international trials. He has served as a reviewer for world renowned medical journals including AIDS, Clinical Investigator, CID, JID, Annuals of Internal Medicine, JAMA, EID and others. He has published more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has authored more than 50 book chapters.