An Ooltewah native based in Atlanta, Megan Dorris works as an epidemic intelligence service officer, or a disease detective, for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dorris recently traveled to Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Bangkok, working to respectively tackle cholera prevention and discuss developing a wastewater surveillance system. A graduate of Clemson University, Dorris has a Bachelor of Science in Spanish language and international health. Additionally, she received two master’s degrees in public health and medical science from Arcadia University.
She discussed her career transition from the medical field to the public health industry, work-based travels and passions for science and language acquisition in a video interview, which has been edited for clarity.
Q: Did you have an idea in mind when you were at college what you wanted to do, or were you always interested in this line of work?