Dr. Linda Quick is Chief of CDC’s Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) Branch in the Division of Global Health Protection at the Center for Global Health. Through her leadership, the branch works closely with Ministries of Health to strengthen public health systems and build workforce capacity by establishing Field Epidemiology Training Programs and training epidemiologists (“disease detectives”) and public health leaders to detect and rapidly respond to outbreaks using surveillance data. The FETP branch currently supports workforce development in 46 countries on 5 continents.

Dr. Quick joined CDC in 1995 through the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) ( a 2-year postgraduate program of service and training in applied epidemiology), and has always had a keen interest in global health, specifically polio eradication and measles elimination. Prior to joining CDC she accepted opportunities to work as a visiting professor at the Dali Medical College Xiaguan in Yunnan Province, China (1991-1992) and as a the Medical Director for the International Rescue Committee during the war in Bosnia from 1992-1994. Since then, she has worked on many global health issues and has served as a CDC assignee to WHO and UNICEF working on disease program evaluation, vaccine preventable disease surveillance, and polio eradication mass campaigns and training programs.

During her early days at CDC working in polio eradication, it was apparent that a much greater workforce was needed to meet field needs and this prompted her to create the Stop Transmission of Polio Initiative (STOP) team in 1998. Now nearly 2,000 volunteers have gone through the STOP program and assistance to many countries continues to be vital. Dr. Quick is a strong believer that collaborative work across branches, divisions, and even countries is the best way to fulfill our potential to impact global targets and use resources more effectively.

Dr. Quick received her medical degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri (1984), and completed her residency in pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital. She has a Diploma in Tropical Medicine from Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC (1988) and a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland (1992) where she also completed her residency in preventive medicine. Dr. Quick has published articles on vaccine preventable illnesses and the management of specific diseases such as malaria, smallpox and polio. She is the recipient of several awards including the Ian Hardy Memorial Award 2000 for outstanding leadership in control of vaccine-preventable diseases, the 2008 USAID award for excellence in establishing first President’s Malaria Initiative program in Uganda, and the 2003 DHHS Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service Group Award for extraordinary technical, managerial and operational competence in creating, developing and implementing the STOP Transmission of Polio Initiative.