‘Full Circle’: MSMS Graduate Helps with COVID-19 Contact Tracing

In summer 2020, Maya Cleveland joined the University of Kentucky Health Corps as a contact tracer identifying individuals who might have encountered a person infected with COVID-19. During this time efforts to control the spread were relatively more difficult with high positive testing rates and uncertainty surrounding the virus.

Cleveland said providing support to faculty, staff, and learners during the toughest parts of the pandemic was a rewarding experience. It prepared her well for pursuing a medical degree at the UK College of Medicine this fall.

“Before I started with UK Health Corps, I was just amazed at the people that were in the hospitals doing the work on the ground,” Cleveland said. “Contact tracing was pretty important in trying to contain the virus, so being involved in it made me appreciate everyone in the effort of curbing the virus, not just those at the front line but those behind the scenes, and it made me have a greater appreciation for those that do it.” Cleveland has had an interest in medicine ever since she joined the University of Kentucky’s Area Health Education Center (AHEC) four-week camp allowing her to take college courses and shadow health professionals. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in agricultural and medical biotechnology, she pursued a Master of Science in Medical Sciences through the College of Medicine. She did her master’s project in the laboratory of Barbara Nikolajczyk, PhD, in the department of pharmacology and nutritional sciences where she studied the effect of diet on a person’s immunity and how it potentially exasperates asthma.

As a Kentuckian, Cleveland wants to use her medical and research education to help patients in her state. She is from Lexington and has family in Middlesboro, Ky., a town in Appalachia where she said health care is not always very accessible.

“A lot of times my family has to come to Lexington or go to other neighboring cities to seek medical treatment,” Cleveland said. “Breaking those generational curses of bad health outcomes is what also influenced me to go into medicine.” A major benefit of her job as a contact tracer was receiving a robust education about COVID-19 and being able to share that information with her family and friends to keep them safe. As an incoming medical student, Cleveland’s initial goal is to practice medicine and be a source of information for her community; however, she sees her biggest impact eventually being made through public policy and communitybased research. She hopes to follow this career path and help create optimal positive change in health care.

More than a year into the pandemic, Cleveland feels less fear and more hope as vaccines are available to widespread audiences in the U.S. In spring of 2021, she had the opportunity to work one shift per week as volunteer manager at UK’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic. She said her experience has come “full circle.”

“A lot of students were angry, scared, and nervous in the beginning, and then you go to the vaccine clinic nearly a year later and people are so happy and appreciative. The energy was very different,” Cleveland said. “It was a full circle moment for me. It was pretty amazing to witness.” n