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. Dr. Kaydos-Daniels credits Country Day for putting her on the path for a very fulfilling career.
Neely was a lifer who was involved in a variety of activities including cheerleading, Aquilifer, and varsity soccer. She says Country Day helped her shape and pursue goals. “In upper school there were some great electives available…I remember Introduction to Psychology with Mr. Levine and Russian Literature with Mrs. Britt most vividly. Neither topic ended up being passions of mine but having 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.”
What advice would you give your high school self?
“It’s ok not to know what you want to do with your life when you’re in high school, or even college! Try courses outside of your main area of interest (like that economics course I never took but wish I had) and spend time with people who are interested in different things and have different backgrounds and perspectives.”
After graduation, she went on to Rice University in Houston and studied anthropology. That degree has proven beneficial, Neely says. “Learning how culture can influence our perception of our lives and health has been useful to me in my career in many ways.”
What led you from anthropology to epidemiology?
Books! “I took a year after college to work and figure out in what subject I might have interest for graduate school. I read The Stand by Stephen King, which begins with a flu pandemic that kills almost everyone on Earth…There was also an Ebola outbreak in the news at the time and I read The Coming Plague by Laurie Garrett. I was hooked on the concept of infectious disease outbreaks at that point.”
After earning an MSPH and PhD at Chapel Hill, Neely became an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the CDC and for two years worked in a small group of other doctors and scientists being trained in applied epidemiology, disease surveillance, and outbreak investigation.
Moving Overseas
Making the transition from domestic to international positions held great appeal. “My first overseas experience was study abroad in Santiago, Chile. I think traveling really appeals to the anthropologist in me – I love it…After EIS I worked in North Carolina for nearly ten years. During that time, I gave birth to my two daughters and traveled internationally for work occasionally, but I spent a lot of that time trying to convince my husband to move overseas. It took a while! Once he agreed, I was able to get a position as the Influenza Program Director for Central America with CDC and we moved our family to Guatemala for four years.” In 2018 the family left Guatemala and settled in Ethiopia. When the novel coronavirus emerged, Neely and her team were ready to get to work.
I feel like I have spent my whole career expecting a pandemic from a virus.
“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…Understanding the culture and institutions and infrastructure are really important as we work to mitigate the pandemic – what works in the USA 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.”
In mid-April Neely and her family evacuated to Raleigh, due to concerns over the severity of COVID-19 and potential challenges accessing medical care, if needed. At the time of the interview, Neely was preparing to return to Ethiopia to lead CDC's COVID-19 work there while her husband and daughters remain in Raleigh.
I feel a moral and professional obligation to go back. It’s not required, but generally, I am the person who runs toward epidemics to help. I don’t run away from them.
How does COVID-19 look different in a different country?
Neely says, “the epidemic got a little bit delayed in getting to Africa and to really getting off the ground in Africa. So, cases in Ethiopia did not start to rapidly increase until late May and into June, at a time with some political unrest and large protests. A few weeks after these protests things seemed to really start increasing in terms of case counts. Since then, the government has been doing a lot to increase their testing. So, when we look at the fact that their numbers seem to be going up it’s also because they are testing more.”
Neely stressed the need to understand the context behind published figures. She also acknowledged the challenges associated with implementing protocols to protect against the virus. "I can say that I understand that it’s really difficult for all of us to change our routines, change our lives…So, when I see people without masks, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt…But, that said, it wasn't that long ago that smoking used to be allowed in restaurants and on airplanes. People had to change their behaviors to protect other people's health. It wasn't an easy change for everyone. It is difficult to change people's behavior. I see more and more people wearing masks, so that makes me happy."
On staying connected...
Though Neely has not lived in Charlotte since college, social media has been a great way to stay connected with old friends from Country Day. “It makes a huge difference that there are people out there who have known me since I was five years old, and we still like each other. We support each other as much as we can from far away. It really means a lot…I think my family feels a little untethered because of our international moves, so those anchors to decades ago are really, really important. It makes me feel very grounded. Knowing where my home is. Where my real home is.”
You can connect with Dr. Neely Kaydos-Daniels '91 via her LinkedIn page at www.linkedin.com/in/neelyk.