Thomas Dobbs, MD

Dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health 

Thomas Dobbs assumed the role of dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health on August 1, 2022. In addition to this role, he teaches epidemiology for the School of Population Health and the School of Health Related Professions.  He has a clinical position within the Division of Infectious Disease, working specifically in the fields of HIV and sexually transmitted infections with a focus on the intersection of disease and the social determinants of health. 

Dobbs has a long career working at the crossroads of clinical medicine and public health as a physician, researcher and public health leader. He has held numerous leadership roles within the Mississippi State Department of Health including state epidemiologist and state health officer (a role through which he directed the state's response to the COVID pandemic). In his role as state health officer, he focused the agency on addressing the numerous health inequities that plague our state. Additionally, he has worked in leadership roles nationally and internationally in the fight against diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis.  

Dobbs hails from Alabama but holds deep Delta roots with a grandfather and great-grandfather who both worked as physicians in Shelby and Gunnison, Miss. He completed his undergraduate degree in applied physics at Emory University and medical school at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed an Internal Medicine residency at UAB and an Infectious Diseases fellowship at Wake Forest and UAB.  

He and his wife have lived in Mississippi since 2001. As a lover of the outdoors, Dr. Dobbs can be found cycling, hiking or sailing in his free time. His wife Dr. Kimberly Dobbs is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UMMC. They have two children: Wyn, the eldest, is completing medical school at George Washington University, and Max is a student at Amherst College.