The Virus Hunter feat. Anne Rimoin ’92

Midd Moment

A fearless virus hunter. That’s how many describe today’s guest, who has been on the front lines researching emerging infectious disease for nearly three decades.

Anne Rimoin is an epidemiologist who is an internationally recognized expert on global health, disease, surveillance, and immunization.

Anne is a 1992 graduate of Middlebury College and earned a Master's in Public Health from UCLA and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins. Currently, she holds the Gordon Levin and Dow Chair in infectious diseases and public health at UCLA's Fielding School of Public Health, where she directs the Center for Global and Immigrant Health.

She sits down with host & President of Middlebury Laurie Patton, to discuss her time in the PeaceCorps, white savior complex & parachute science in the global health space, vaccine hesitancy, and finding the joy in this work despite the white hot glare of polarized debates.

MiddMoment is a production of Middlebury College and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

The core of the DRC program

19:26: The basis of my program in DRC is this deep, fundamental connection with the people there and my interest in trying to understand, well, what do you need? What do you want? What can we do to make your life better? And I think that training from being a student at Middlebury and having this just very different kind of approach as opposed to a completely science-based approach has made all of the difference in the world.

The importance of applying methods to health situations

15:14: What I tell people all the time is don't focus on what the disease is; focus on what the methods are and be able to apply them to any health situation.

Show Links:

• Anne Rimoin - UCLA
• Anne Rimoin - NIH Bibliography
• Anne Rimoin - Twitter
• Guinea Worm Eradication Program in Benin in West Africa
• World Heath Organization
• APLA Aids Project
• John Spencer
• Spencer Prize in Oratory