Dr. Neely Kaydos-Daniels ’91 is Prepared for a Global Pandemic

Dr. Neely (Cornelia) Kaydos-Daniels ’91 is the associate director for strategic information within the Division of Global HIV and TB at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Throughout her career she has directed studies of infectious disease outbreaks such as influenza, Zika, and HIV/AIDS, among others. Neely credits Country Day for putting her on the path for a career dependent on cultural awareness.

“In Upper School there were some great electives available,” she remembers, “such as Introduction to Psychology with Mr. Levine and Russian Literature with Mrs. Britt. Those opportunities to try something new opened my eyes to the fact that there would be lots of opportunities going forward about which I knew nothing at the time. By the time I graduated I knew I had the ability to tackle any field of study in which I had interest.”

Neely went on to Rice University and studied anthropology, where she learned “how culture can influence our perception of our lives.” After college, Neely found herself reading fiction centered on infectious disease outbreaks and an Ebola outbreak was in the news at the time. “I was hooked on the concept of infectious disease outbreaks at that point.”

After earning an MSPH and PhD at UNC-Chapel Hill, Neely became an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the CDC working in applied epidemiology, disease surveillance, and outbreak investigation.

Tackling COVID-19

“I have been actively working on the COVID-19 pandemic in different ways and for different countries since January. It is exhausting and I’m as tired of COVID-19 as everyone else,” she says.

“Understanding the culture and institutions and infrastructure are really important as we work to mitigate the pandemic. What works in the U.S. will not necessarily work in Ethiopia and vice versa. For example, it is an important part of the culture in Ethiopia that meals are shared among family members or friends from a single plate. So, it may be more difficult to implement physical distancing in Ethiopia than, say, mask-wearing by the public.”

Neely acknowledges the challenges associated with implementing protocols to protect against the virus. “I understand that it’s really difficult for all of us to change our routines, change our lives. I see more and more people wearing masks, so that makes me happy.”