Improving Access to Healthcare

The National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) is excited to highlight some of its next generation of public health leaders, using their knowledge and expertise to not only address public health concerns in their communities but also to ensure NCIRD and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) can continue to reflect the populations they serve.

See what drives their passion for public health, how they got to their fellowship, and how they will act as agents of positive change in public health outcomes in the U.S. and internationally.

Alpha Oumar Diallo has had an interest in public health since he was a child diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Born in the African nation of Guinea, Diallo found that the health care system in his home country was ill-equipped when it came to managing his Diabetes. He said access to things like insulin injections was nearly impossible.

Fortunately, Diallo was able to emigrate to Denver, Colorado, at the age of 10 with his family. There, he was able to be formally diagnosed with Diabetes at the age of 16 and received treatment to manage the disease.

“The good fortune that I had was that a metro Denver area health system included the Barbara Davis Center for Juvenile Diabetes, the top juvenile Diabetes center in the world,” said Diallo. “I received well-rounded care, and I had regular access to a dietician.”

Diallo’s doctor at the time introduced him to the field of epidemiology and mentors at NCIRD’s Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch sparked his interest in the Epidemic Intelligence Service Fellowship (EIS). EIS is a long-standing, globally recognized fellowship program renowned for its investigative and emergency response efforts. As EIS officers work on the front lines of public health, their services and publications attract the attention of news media and public health partners.

Now in his second year with the fellowship assigned to NCIRD’s Viral Gastroenteritis Branch, Diallo is looking at the effectiveness of rotavirus vaccines in preventing severe acute gastroenteritis and changes in the age distribution of children who were hospitalized and tested positive for rotavirus before and after rotavirus vaccines were introduced in low- and middle-income countries. This is accomplished by helping French-speaking African countries look at their own vaccine effectiveness and help them strengthen their surveillance systems. He’s also working with their ministries of health to help them perform analysis independently.

“My end goal for this fellowship is to get training in applied epidemiology and to lead a team that will help integrate population-wide interventions like immunizations into health systems,” said Diallo. “I also want to be a compassionate mentor to my team, just like my mentors are to me now.”

The mentors that Diallo works within EIS come from diverse backgrounds. This gives them unique perspectives on how cultures from around the world operate within health systems. Diallo says it’s critical to have people on your fellowship team who are intelligent, culturally competent, and have had similar life experiences. The result is that Diallo, his mentors, and other EIS fellows can make connections with people in partner countries to keep and maintain trusting relationships.

“Anyone considering this fellowship needs to think through why they would like to work for an institution like CDC,” said Diallo. “I have a vested interest in public health because of my Diabetes diagnosis and because I am from Guinea. Don’t feel intimidated by the application process. CDC is a wonderful place to be.”