The University of Minnesota (UMN) has appointed Melinda Pettigrew as its new Dean of the School of Public Health. As a part of this new role, she will serve as the chief executive and chief academic officer.

Dr. Pettigrew is the Chair of the ARLG Diversity Working Group and a member of the Laboratory Center Consortium Team. Previously, she served as the interim Dean of the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) where she is currently the Anna M. R. Lauder Professor of Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases) and the deputy dean of YSPH. Her research explores the effect of microbiome disruptions on antibacterial resistance and the risk for hospital-acquired infections.

The new appointment is the result of a highly competitive national candidate search and will begin in December 2023. Dr. Pettigrew’s leadership will help to advance the UMN School of Public Health’s goals to advance population health and health equity.

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A June Magnify Magazine article titled “A Fighting Chance Against Infection” featured a profile on Tori Kinamon, ARLG Innovations Working Group member and MD Candidate at the Duke University School of Medicine.

In the article, Kinamon, a former gymnast who acquired a severe Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection during her freshman year of college at Brown University, detailed how that traumatic experience changed her perspective and inspired her to pursue a career in medicine.

As a medical student at Duke, Kinamon reached out to ARLG co-principal investigator, renowned researcher in S. aureus, and Florence McAlister Distinguished Professor of Medicine Dr. Vance Fowler, expressing her interest in infectious diseases research.

Kinamon has since authored multiple publications for scientific journals, participated in an ARLG panel discussion and an infectious disease conference in Dublin, Ireland, and was recently selected for an FDA Antibacterial Drug Resistance (DOOR) Fellowship – a competitive opportunity offered through the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). The fellowship evaluates ordinal endpoints using ARLG’s Desirability of Outcome Ranking (DOOR) approach for anti-infective clinical trials. DOOR is an innovative approach used in clinical trials to evaluate the global benefits and risks of an intervention.

Kinamon’s personal experience with a drug-resistant infection motivates her commitment to a patient-centered approach to care and the development of innovative treatments and preventive measures, including an infection prevention protocol for athletes, aiming to reduce the risk of infections like MRSA in athletic settings.

Kinamon emphasizes the importance of antibacterial research and development in the face of increasing rates of antibacterial resistance. She credits her fortunate access to an effective treatment for the positive outcome of her infection and expresses a passionate desire to provide the same opportunities for patients in the future.

“I don’t want to look a patient in the eye, or their family in the eye, and tell them they have an infection that we can’t treat. I want patients to have the outcome I was lucky enough to have,” Kinamon said.

Read Kinamon’s full profile for Magnify Magazine here.