Zygmunt F. Dembek, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.H., COL, AUS (Ret)

An epidemiologist and biochemist, Zygmunt F. Dembek is a Senior Scientist with the Center for Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance Medicine (CDHAM) in support of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) Cooperative Threat Reduction Program (CTR) and Cooperative Bioengagment Program (CBEP).  He was educated at Eastern Connecticut State University (BA, Biology), and holds graduate degrees from Hood College (MS, Biomedical Science) and the University of Connecticut (PhD, Nutritional Biochemistry and MPH, Public Health).  In 1977 he enlisted in the US Army as a biological sciences research assistant. In 1983 COL Dembek received a direct commission as a second lieutenant (Biochemist) in the United States Army Reserve, Medical Service Corps. His military assignments have been with the US Army Natick Research and Development Command at Natick, Massachusetts, the US Army Environmental Hygiene Agency (USAEHA), Regional Division West (Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center, CO), USAEHA HQ (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD), and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) at Fort Detrick, MD.  He also served as Senior CBRNE Analyst with VTU-0119 at the US Naval War College in Newport, RI from 1996-2005.  COL Dembek received the Legion of Merit for his service as the Director of Education and Training at USAMRIID, upon his retirement following 34 years of Active and Reserve duty.  He was inducted into the Order of Military Medical Merit of the Army Medical Department, and was also awarded the U.S. Army Surgeon General’s “A” proficiency designator.

In his civilian career, Dr. Dembek was an infectious disease epidemiologist with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and had 30 years of state service.  In conducting epidemiological investigations of infectious disease outbreaks, he proactively established various innovative surveillance systems, including those used for laboratory, clinical, and syndromic disease surveillance. He has held academic appointments at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine and at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). He served as Commission Epidemiologist on the Connecticut Persian Gulf War Information and Relief Commission and also on the Connecticut State Emergency Response Commission, as member and trustee of the Board of Directors of the North Central (Connecticut) Department of Health, and the chair of the Suffield, Connecticut, Local Emergency Planning Committee.  He is the author or co-author of over 80 publications, many directly relevant to civilian and military medical defense against bioterrorism and biological weapons, and served as Senior Editor of the peer-reviewed Textbook of Military Medicine “Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare”, published by the US Army, Office of The Surgeon General, Borden Institute. His writing has been included in the US Army Professional Writing Collection. He has conducted national and international training exercises for biological defense and pandemic influenza preparedness for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), DTRA, and the CDHAM.  He serves as a member of the Editorial Board of Public Health Reports, the peer-reviewed official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service, and also serves as a peer reviewer for various medical, epidemiology, public health, and military journals.

(Last Updated 14 July 2012.)

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