Dr. Jennifer Hensley McQuiston named veterinary college outstanding recent alumna
Dr. Jennifer Hensley McQuiston, of Stone Mountain, Ga., has been named the recipient of the 2007-2008 Outstanding Recent Alumni Award for the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech.
McQuiston exemplifies the graduate worthy of this award, according to Dr. Tom Inzana, the Tyler J. and Frances F. Young Professor of Bacteriology in the college's Department of Biomedical Sciences & Pathobiology and Virginia Tech's associate vice-president for research programs. Inzana served as an advisor to McQuiston during her course of study in the college.
"Dr. McQuiston has distinguished herself as a veterinary epidemiologist, responding to and addressing emerging infectious diseases and public health issues around the world that are of the utmost national and international importance," said Inzana.
McQuiston is a three-time graduate of Virginia Tech. She received her bachelor’s degree in biology in 1993, her doctor of veterinary medicine in 1997 and her master’s degree in molecular biology in 1998. From 1998 to 2000, she trained with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service where she was assigned to the Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch.
From 2005 to 2007, she served as Zoonoses Team Leaders in the center's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, managing issues related to animal importation and the infectious disease risks they pose. She is currently the epidemiology team leader in the Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch in the National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases at the Center for Disease Control. She leads a team responsible for managing outbreaks and conducting national surveillance of rickettsial diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Q fever. She is a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service, and is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and an honorary diplomate of the American Veterinary Epidemiology Society.
McQuiston has been honored numerous times for her many contributions to public health including the Public Health Service's Crisis Response Service Award for her exemplary work in the aftermath of the World Trade Center attacks and Hurricane Katrina.
"The Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine is proud of Dr. McQuiston's accomplishments and we are honored to count her as one of our alumni," said Inzana.
To be eligible for the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, recipients must be graduates of the past ten years and each should have distinguished him or herself professionally in his/her career or in rendering service to the university since graduating. The faculty of each college nominates and decides upon the recipient for their individual college.
McQuiston was presented with her award during the college's spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 10, 2008, in the Commonwealth Ballroom.
