Commanding Officer

Commander Michael G. Prouty, MSC, USN
Interim Commanding Officer
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH
Callao, Peru
 

A native of Houston, Texas, Commander Michael Prouty received his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin and completed his PhD at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio focusing on the molecular mechanisms of pathogenesis of Vibrio cholerae. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois where his research focused on the cytolethal distending toxins’ interactions with host cells.
 
In 2008, Prouty was commissioned in the United States Navy at the rank of Lieutenant. His first duty station was the Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) in Silver Spring, Maryland. At NMRC he was assigned to the Enteric Diseases Department where his research focus was on the development of a vaccine against Campylobacter jejuni.
 
While stationed at NMRC, Prouty was deployed in 2011 to the Mideast in support of Operation New Dawn. As the microbiologist assigned to the Forward Deployed Preventive Medicine Unit, it was his duty to conduct surveillance for infectious disease threats among deployed troops and to provide force health protection guidance and support.
 
From 2012-2015, Prouty was stationed at one of the U.S. Navy’s overseas laboratories, Naval Medical Research Unit-TWO (NAMRU-2), in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As the Head of Laboratory Operations at NAMRU-2, Prouty was responsible for directing disease surveillance programs in cooperation with the Cambodian Ministry of Health. Additionally, he worked closely with the Health Department of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces to develop the first real-time disease, non-battle injury surveillance system in Cambodia and to establish diagnostic microbiology capability in three military hospitals.
 
In 2015, Prouty returned to NMRC where he became the Head of the Office of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Head of the Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Vaccine Program. In 2016, he became acting Director of Field Laboratory Operations for NMRC. In 2018, Prouty was named the Head of the Enteric Diseases Department.
 
From 2019-2022 CDR Prouty was stationed at the Naval Medical Research Unit- SIX (NAMRU-6), headquartered in Lima, Peru. There he served as the Deputy Director for Science and later as the Director for Science, overseeing the command research portfolio that encompassed programs in eight countries in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. During this time, CDR Prouty also served as the Specialty Leader for Microbiology, supporting the Surgeon General by providing advice on optimal staffing and community requirements.
 
In 2022, CDR Prouty became Executive Officer of NAMRU-6, which was renamed Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH in 2023. In April, 2024 he assumed the role as Interim Commanding Officer, NAMRU SOUTH.
 
His personal awards include the Meritorious Service Medal (three awards), the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal (two awards), the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal as well as various unit and campaign awards.