W. Ian Lipkin

Walter Ian Lipkin (born November 18, 1952) is an American epidemiologist, microbiologist, and pathologist who is the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology and Director, Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. He also holds professorships in neurology and pathology at Columbia and directs the NIH-funded Center for Solutions for ME/CFS.

Over more than four decades, Lipkin has developed and deployed molecular and genomic methods for pathogen discovery, diagnostics, and outbreak response. His group introduced the VirCapSeq-VERT capture-sequencing platform for broad detection and surveillance of known and novel vertebrate viruses, subsequently validated for clinical use.

Lipkin's outbreak and public-health work includes investigations of encephalitis, respiratory, and vector-borne diseases; Columbia reports he was among the first to determine that West Nile virus caused the 1999 New York City encephalitis epidemic. He also served as chief science advisor to Steven Soderbergh's film Contagion (2011) and was active in scientific advising and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In ME/CFS research, Lipkin led a multicenter, blinded study that found no association between XMRV/pMLV and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, helping resolve a high-profile controversy.

His honors include Villanova University’s Mendel Medal (2014) and election as a National Academy of Inventors Fellow (2024).