Celeny Ortiz Restrepo settling into her GHI office (Photo from Celeny Ortiz Restrepo)
By Kendall Buehl, GHI Staffer…On February 13, 2024, Epidemiologist for the Secretary of Health, State of Antioquia, Colombia, Celeny Ortiz Restrepo, began her journey at the University of Madison–Wisconsin as a visiting scholar. The opportunity is a partnership between UW–Madison’s Global Health Institute (GHI) and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS) to research and analyze emerging and infectious disease (EID) data from Colombia, with the goal of publishing manuscripts and submitting grant proposals.
With more than ten years of public health experience in Colombia, and through the help of GHI Director, Jorge Osorio, and her UW–Madison mentor, Sara McKinnon, LACIS Faculty Director and Professor of Rhetoric, Politics & Culture in the Department of Communication Arts, Ortiz made multidisciplinary connections across campus to learn, find, and add to EID projects with GHI and affiliates.
But first, let’s take a step back. Why did she choose to pursue a health-focused career?
“What inspired me to work in epidemiological surveillance was the desire to contribute to public health by identifying and contributing to an immediate response to control disease outbreaks,” Ortiz shares. “The idea of using data and research to understand disease transmission patterns, and prevent future outbreaks, is necessary work in public health.”
With this, Ortiz highlights the importance of public health professionals in preventing what could be catastrophic health outbreaks. Epidemiology in particular, allows researchers to be one step ahead of any disease by surveilling and analyzing their prevalence in populations around the globe.
Without diving deeper into the complex ‘how’ of epidemiological surveillance and emerging infectious diseases, let’s take a look at the ‘why’.
“The field of emerging infectious diseases [takes into account] the ever-changing nature of diseases and the constant challenge they pose to public health,” Ortiz emphasizes. “It’s important to generate knowledge in monitoring and understanding the behavior of these diseases and to try to anticipate [their impact] to avoid the occurrence of large outbreaks that can strongly affect the population, as COVID-19 did.”
Although some might be daunted by the vastness of the field, Ortiz successfully thrives on her passion for prevention. Currently, she’s working on two papers about the surveillance of acute respiratory infections in Medellín, Colombia, with links to the GHI One Health Center-Colombia.
Recently, Ortiz presented an abstract poster at the 2024 Global Health Symposium, Moving Global Health Forward, co-hosted by GHI and the Office of Global Health at the School of Medicine and Public Health.
The poster presented findings on the use of molecular diagnosis for respiratory infections in Antioquia, Colombia, in 2022. The study concluded adding multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to surveillance for respiratory pathogens significantly increased detection rates. The researchers recommend monitoring the proportion of negative samples after traditional screening to identify emerging pathogens.
Although new to Madison, Ortiz has known GHI Director, Jorge Osorio, and his work, for six years. So, when she got a call from Osorio asking her to take part in the health component of the Migration in the Americas Project she knew it was meant to be.
“I readily accepted this opportunity to uncover the risks of transmission between populations and cities,” said Ortiz. “The project is especially important to global health because migrant connections across the world so often impact pathogen spread in unpredictable ways.”
Ortiz enjoyed contributing to this multidisciplinary project, and she hopes to continue working and collaborating in similar ways.
And with GHI, Ortiz is certain that she will have plenty of opportunities.
“GHI facilitates collaboration with researchers from different parts of the world who share a common goal of benefiting communities globally, which is truly inspiring to me,” Ortiz shares.
Her passion lies on the crossroads of health policy and emerging infectious diseases, so it makes sense that Ortiz strives for interdisciplinary connection.
All that being said, what has she gained from her experience at GHI?
“Being a visiting scholar at the UW–Madison Global Health Institute has been highly impactful for me,” Ortiz answers. “It has provided me with access to a wide range of resources, such as attending courses related to epidemiology and infectious diseases, and interacting with researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines.”
The feelings are mutual. After spending a few months together, GHI is excited to see what Ortiz will accomplish next. From lab work to fieldwork, Ortiz has proven herself to be incredibly passionate about her work as an epidemiologist and has already seen great success.
So, what’s next?
Ortiz plans to narrow her options and apply to a doctoral program in the upcoming months. Her collaboration with UW–Madison, GHI, and LACIS will continue to flourish as she heads toward a future of even more research and innovation. This is just the beginning of Ortiz’s journey in putting the Wisconsin Idea into global action. And we can’t wait to see what happens next.
If you want to learn more, contact Celeny Ortiz Restrepo at ortizrestrep@wisc.edu or reach out to us at GHI.