Talk:Gregory Poland

Early life

Hello! On behalf of Atria Health and as part of my work at Beutler Ink, I am submitting a series of COI edit requests in an attempt to improve this biography from a Wikipedia perspective. I've disclosed my COI at the top of this page and on my profile. I've saved an expanded and updated draft here, which I will be referencing in my requests. I'll be submitting requests to propose changes bit by bit, but wanted to share the full draft for transparency. To start, I'd like to suggest expanding the Education section to also include a summary of the subject's early life. Here's proposed text for a first paragraph in the expanded Early life and education section:

• Poland's father was a career officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. Poland became interested in medicine at the age of four, when his finger was severed by a closing door and reattached. He and his mother and siblings were in Hawaii at the time, as his father was stationed there. In his youth, Poland had a chemistry set, learned how to make gunpowder for launching rockets, dissected small animals, and studied his own blood under a microscope. During high school, he was a janitor at a medical building, where he borrowed medical texts and reagents from physicians.

References

My goal for this request is to expand the biography with missing information about his early life. I don't think any of the claims are particularly contentious and I've highlighted this text in the draft in green if the context is helpful.

If editors agree this is an improvement, could someone update the article on my behalf? I generally avoid editing the main space because of my COI. Thanks in advance for any help! Inkian Jason (talk) 18:53, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Edit request reply 26-MAY-2026

  Edit request declined  

• The provided source is an interview with the subject himself, where he waxes nostalgic about events in his past which shaped his career choices. While those facts are undoubtedly important to him in defining his life journey, nostalgia is not really encyclopedic in nature.

Regards,  Spintendo  15:59, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Education

Related to the Education section, I would like to offer replacement text for the current paragraph covering the subject's educational background. The current text has an incorrect date and uses a couple less than ideal sources.

Following is a copy of the current text:

• Poland received his BA in biology from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1977 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity. He received his MD from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine in 1981. Poland also received an MA in theology from Westminster Theological Seminary.

References

As seen in my full draft, I propose replacing this text with the following, which is more accurate and complete, and based on Wikipedia-appropriate sources:

• Poland studied biology and graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) in 1977. He graduated from the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine (SIUSOM) in 1980, and subsequently attended the University of Minnesota for advanced post-graduate residency training. He studied and earned a Master's degree in theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in 2022.

References

I am unable to access the Emerald of Sigma Pi source, so I will let other editors decide if the Sigma Pi claim is worth keeping. My goal for this request is to improve the biography's accuracy and sourcing. I generally avoid editing the main space and ask others to review and implement this request appropriately. Happy to answer any questions or concerns here or on my user Talk page. Thanks for considering this improvement! Inkian Jason (talk) 12:50, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Edit request reply 26-MAY-2026

  Edit request partially implemented  

• Y The year of graduation from SIUSOM was changed to 1980.
• N None of the other information is substantially different from what already exists in the article

Regards,  Spintendo  15:59, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Select publications

  Edit request declined  

Next, I'd like to propose adding a Select publications section, which is common for biographies about academics, doctors, and scientists. I am under the impression that publications sections generally include no more than 10 entries, so I'd like to suggest the following representative collection:

• Poland, Gregory; Grabenstein, John D; Neff, John M (April 2005). "The US smallpox vaccination program: A review of a large modern era smallpox vaccination implementation program". Vaccine. 23 (17–18): 2078-81.
• Poland, Gregory; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Jacobson, Robert Martin (March 2008). "Genetics and Immune Response to Vaccines". Genetic Susceptibility to Infectious Diseases. pp. 414–430.
• Poland, Gregory; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Jacobson, Robert Martin (August 2008). "Vaccine Immunogenetics: Bedside to Bench to Population". Vaccine. 26 (49): 6183–8.
• Poland, Gregory; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Jacobson, Robert Martin (December 2008). "Personalized vaccines: The emerging field of vaccinomics". Expert Opinion on Biological Therapy. 8 (11): 1659–67.
• Poland, Gregory; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Jacobson, Robert Martin (June 2009). "Adversomics: The Emerging Field of Vaccine Adverse Event Immunogenetics". The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. 28 (5): 431-2.
• Poland, Gregory; Jacobson, Robert Martin (January 2011). "The Age-Old Struggle against the Antivaccinationists". The New-England Medical Review and Journal. 364 (2): 97–9.
• Kennedy, Richard B; Poland, Gregory; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Oberg, Ann (May 2016). "Impaired innate, humoral, and cellular immunity despite a take in smallpox vaccine recipients". Vaccine. 34 (28).
• Poland, Gregory A.; Kennedy, Richard B. (February 23, 2022). "Vaccine safety in an era of novel vaccines: a proposed research agenda". Nature Reviews Immunolog. 22: 203–204.
• Poland, Caroline M; Ratishvili, Tamar; Poland, Gregory (June 2022). "Distorted Human Decision-Making as a Critical Aspect of Pandemic Planning and Preparedness". The Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine. 95 (2): 281–292.
• Poland, Gregory (September 2022). "The human immune response to vaccines is symphonic, polyphonic, homophonic, and megaphonic". Vaccine. 40 (6).

You can see how this fits into the overall draft here. If editors agree this is an improvement, I'd appreciate an update on my behalf since I avoid editing in the main space. Thanks again! Inkian Jason (talk) 19:01, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Edit request reply 26-MAY-2026

  Clarification requested  

• The list of publications in which the subject is author ought to be commensurate with the length of the article, or alternatively, those publications mentioned by an independent WP:RS. Accordingly, please choose the 3 most important / significant to be listed.
• When ready to proceed with the requested information, kindly change {{Edit COI}} answer parameter to read from |ans=y to |ans=n.

Thank you! Regards,  Spintendo  15:59, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

•  Not done.--Victoria (talk) 11:11, 7 July 2026 (UTC)

Personal life

Continuing my work on this biography, I'd like to suggest adding a Personal life section with the following content:

• Poland met his wife at IWU in 1975. Poland is also the assistant pastor of a Presbyterian church in Florida.

References

My goal for this request is to update the biography with missing information about his relationship status and work outside medicine. I don't think this is a particularly contentious addition, but I avoid editing the main space because of my COI and seek help from others to update the entry on my behalf.

Thanks! Inkian Jason (talk) 12:56, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

Edit request reply 26-MAY-2026

  Edit request declined  

• As the subject's primary notability extends from his work on vaccines, information on the church he ministers at is not germane.

Regards,  Spintendo  15:59, 26 May 2026 (UTC)

Honors and awards

Continuing my work on this biography, I'd like to suggest replacing the content in Honors and awards, which is currently sourced to an official website and a speaker biography, with the following:

• Poland was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service by President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, the United States Secretary of Defense, for his work related to biodefense and infectious diseases prevention. Poland has also received a MERIT Award from the NIH, a Department of Medicine Lifetime Research Achievement Award from Mayo Clinic, and a distinguished alumni award from SIUSOM. Poland received the inaugural Gold Medal from the Spanish Vaccinology Society in 2001 and the Dr. Charles Mérieux Award for Achievement in Vaccinology and Immunology from the NFID in 2006.

References

If editors consider this a stronger summary of recognition based on higher quality sources, then I am hoping someone can update the article on my behalf. As a reminder, I am submitting COI edit requests based on this draft, if you're interested in seeing how this content fits into the full biography.

Thanks in advance! Inkian Jason (talk) 15:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Career: paragraph 1

Currently, this biography has some information about the subject's career in the Introduction that's left out of the article body. In my full draft, I've proposed an updated and expanded Career section for review.

I've drafted three paragraphs about the subject's career, based on Wikipedia-appropriate sources, but I will submit one request for each paragraph to avoid asking editors to review too much content at once. Following is the first paragraph for consideration, which does not duplicate any information in the article body of the live entry:

• Poland is a vaccinologist and expert in the prevention of infectious diseases. He became a physician in 1980. Poland is a professor of medicine, infectious diseases, molecular pharmacology, and experimental therapeutics at Mayo Clinic. He founded and directs Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, which the SIUSOM has said "created the field of viral vaccine immunogenetics and the immune response network theory, helping develop novel vaccines important to public health". He is the co-director of the Atria Research and Global Health Institute. Poland has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his research on vaccines since 1991.

References

I'll leave it to others to decide if the current Research and activism and Department of Defense sections should be merged into a more general Career section. My goal for this request is to make the biography more complete and up to date. I generally avoid editing the main space and ask editors to update the article appropriately.

Thank you! Inkian Jason (talk) 15:39, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Career: paragraph 2

As mentioned above and seen in this full draft, I am sharing three paragraphs about the subject's career in an attempt to make this biography more complete and up to date. Following is the second paragraph:

• Poland has been a medical advisor to four U.S. presidents, including Joe Biden. World has credited him for providing "consultative advice to nearly every Western vaccine manufacturer", including Moderna and Pfizer. He has advocated for mandatory influenza vaccination of health care personnel. He also coined the terms "cryptic adverse events", "vaccinomics", and "adversomics". As of 2021, Poland and his daughter Caroline, who is a licensed mental health counselor, have been studying ways to improve COVID-19 and other vaccine acceptance. In 2025, Poland said the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System should be strengthened and "large, ongoing studies are needed to help researchers work out who is at increased risk of vaccine injuries and how to reduce that risk", according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

References

Again, I'll leave it to editors to decide if the current Research and activism section should be folded into Career, but most of the suggested addition does not duplicate claims. If editors find this information helpful to include in his biography, I'd appreciate if someone could update the entry appropriately, as I generally avoid editing the main space because of my COI. Thanks again, Inkian Jason (talk) 15:46, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Career: paragraph 3

Hi agin! As mentioned above and seen in this full draft, I have drafted three paragraphs about the subject's career in an attempt to make this biography more complete and up to date. Following is the third paragraph:

• Poland is the founding president of the Edward Jenner Society and the immediate past editor-in-chief of its medical journal Vaccine. He has also been the president of the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board and was appointed as the president of the Defense Health Board by U.S. President George W. Bush. Poland has been a member of IWU's School of Nursing and Health Science advisory council and is on the steering committee of the National Network for Immunization Information. He is a past member of the board of trustees for Taylor University. In 2009, Poland was the chair of the American College of Physicians' Adult Immunization Advisory Board. Poland served multiple terms on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, as well as the National Vaccine Advisory Committee and the Food and Drug Administration's Vaccine and Regulatory Advisory Committee. He has also represented the American College of Physicians, the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID), and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

References

I should note that this proposed text duplicates the claims made about the Health Defense Board and the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board in the live Department of Defense section, but I'm not sure the current text "This board answers to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs" is worth keeping since it is not about the subject. This proposed addition summarizes various roles the subject has held, including editor-in-chief of a notable medical journal, board positions, and other memberships. If editors find these claims helpful for his biography, I'd appreciate if someone could update the article on my behalf because of my COI.

Thanks again! Inkian Jason (talk) 15:56, 18 June 2026 (UTC)