Pappaioanou Veterinary Public Health and Applied Epidemiology Award

The Pappaioanou Veterinary Public Health and Applied Epidemiology Award is made possible through a partnership between Marguerite Pappaioanou, DVM, MPVM, PhD, DACVPM. and the CDC Foundation. The fund originally supported the Pappaioanou Veterinary Public Health and Applied Epidemiology Fund which competitively selected veterinarians and third and fourth year veterinary medical students for opportunities in an applied hands-on training experience in epidemiology, public health, global health, or One Health (bridging human, animal and environmental health) in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff.

In 2020, the fellowship transitioned. Now called the Pappaoianou Veterinary Public Health and Applied Epidemiology Award (Pappaoianou Award), it provides a stipend for competitively selected veterinary students, residents or veterinarians, who successfully completed their 6- or 8-week Epidemiology Elective Program (EEP) rotation during the years of 2018–2022. The Pappaioanou Award is awarded annually to a minimum of one EEP graduate who is ready to take the next step of their journey to becoming leaders in the fields of public health, global health, and/or One Health and are interested in applying to the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) in the near future. The selected applicant(s) will receive a stipend of $1,300 each to support travel and hotel expenses to attend the 2023 Annual EIS Conference (Spring 2023 (Dates TBD)). Remaining stipend funds may be used for other public health training.

The 2023 Pappaioanou Award application will be open November 1-November 30, 2022. Please check back then. The 2023 Award winners are expected to attend the EIS conference and awardee events in person in Atlanta, Georgia in Spring 2023 (Dates TBD).

Since its inception in 1975, EEP has provided approximately 2,100 future physicians and veterinarians opportunities to gain experience in applied epidemiology and public health under the mentorship of subject matter experts from CDC; state, tribal, local and territorial health departments; and other federal agencies. EEP students have helped investigate domestic and global public health problems such as infectious disease outbreaks, natural disasters, chronic diseases and limited access to health care. Students often conduct surveillance, analyze data, assist with outbreak investigations and contribute to CDC publications and recommendations. Project assignments in global health support the CDC mission to protect domestic public health by helping other countries respond to global health threats. To learn more about the EEP application process, deadlines and available rotations, please visit the CDC web page.  

About Dr. Marguerite Pappaioanou

Veterinarians who pursue public health careers apply their comparative medical educations to keep humans, animals, and the environment we all share, healthy.  

Dr. Marguerite Pappaioanou, a senior epidemiologist and veterinarian, currently serves as CDC’s Liaison to the Food and Drug Administration for Food Safety. She has over 30 years of experience working on domestic and global public issues, including 22 plus years as an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Beginning in 1983 at CDC, Dr. Pappaioanou assessed the effectiveness of malaria drugs in African national malaria control programs; led in the design and implementation of the family of HIV seroprevalence surveys; directed a USAID funded global capacity building Data for Decision Making Project to strengthen evidence based policies and programs in Africa, Asia, and South America; actively supported field epidemiology training programs and launched CDC’s support of the Guide to Community Preventive Services—What Works to Promote Health. As associate director for science and policy in CDC’s Office of Global Health, she coordinated many of CDC’s international programs and co-coordinated CDC’s international response to the SARS and avian influenza outbreaks in 2003.

Upon retiring from the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service in 2005, she moved to the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, as professor of infectious disease epidemiology, with a joint appointment in the College of Veterinary Medicine. There she led NIH- and CDC- funded research programs focused on surveillance for emerging zoonotic infectious diseases at the human-animal interface. In 2007, she joined the Association of American Veterinary Colleges for four years as executive director. Just prior to rejoining CDC in 2013, she served as senior One Health technical advisor to the USAID funded Emerging Pandemic Threats/RESPOND Project at the global development company, DAI, Inc. in Bethesda, MD.

Throughout her career, Dr. Pappaioanou has studied and applied the interconnectedness of human and animal health to improve global health. Dr. Pappaioanou recognizes that veterinarians are uniquely equipped to work at the intersection of human, animal, and environmental health, and she enthusiastically encourages aspiring veterinarians to pursue exciting and rewarding careers in public health—both domestically and globally.

I am thrilled that through this fund veterinarians will have support to pursue exciting opportunities at CDC to improve human health and well being, and the environment in which we all live.