Dr. Anne Rimoin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Dr. Rimoin received her M.P.H degree at the UCLA School of Public Health in International Health and Nutrition. She later went on to receive her Ph.D. in International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Rimoin has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last decade on disease surveillance and currently examines the epidemiology of zoonotic diseases—diseases that transmit from animals to people—notably monkeypox and Ebola.
What motivated you to pursue a career in global health?
After I graduated from college, I went into the Peace Corps, where I was placed in the Guinea Worm Eradication Program in Benin, West Africa. It was a great public-health program and I learned how to do disease surveillance and think about health from a village perspective. I actually thought I would go to law school after Peace Corps, but I had such a positive experience doing public health work, I decided to pursue an MPH at UCLA.
How do you define global health?
I think that the best definition I have heard describing Global Health is: an area for study, research and practice that places a priority on improving health and achieving equity in health for all people worldwide. Global Health involves many disciplines within and beyond the health sciences and promotes inter-disciplinary, practical collaboration.
What classes do you currently teach at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health?
I teach EPI 420- Field Trials in Developing Countries, EPI 100, EPI 231 -Control of Communicable Diseases and EPI 292 – the Epidemiology Department Doctoral Seminar. I am hoping to get a new class on Outbreak Investigation and Response going next year.
What are your current research projects both domestically and internationally?
My work is all based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I established my research program in 2002 and have been working there ever since. I have full time staff – both Congolese and expatriate (2 former doctoral students), a laboratory and administrative offices. We have a variety of ongoing studies focusing on disease surveillance, immunization and emerging infectious including: 1) a study to assess population immunity to vaccine preventable diseases 2) a study to assess the burden of Human African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), 3) a study to assess the relationship between HIV, STIs and schistosomiasis, 4) a study to assess cross species transmission of respiratory infections between bonobos and human staff at a bonobos sanctuary based outside of Kinshasa and our most recent project 5) a study to collect antibodies from Ebola survivors and their close contacts from all previous outbreaks starting in 1976 to the present.