The International Society for Infectious Diseases’ (ISID) Executive Committee is pleased to announce that as of October 1, 2020, Linda MacKinnon begins her new role as ISID’s Executive Director. Linda joined ISID in 2018 as the Assistant Director of the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) and has been acting as Deputy Executive Director since the Spring of 2020. Linda is a global health professional with extensive leadership and programmatic development experience.
“The success of ISID as a leader in the Infectious Disease space and advocacy for global collaboration is critical and needed now more than ever. I am excited to work with Linda and I am confident that she is the person to lead ISID through this next chapter.” Says ISID Executive Committee President, Alison Holmes.
Prior to joining ISID, Linda worked to advance domestic and international electronic public health surveillance initiatives, including the response to the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. Linda has worked in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on broad initiatives to strengthen health information systems in low- and middle-income countries, including Swaziland, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Vietnam, and Ukraine. She also served as an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID) where she led efforts to improve active and passive surveillance systems, monitored outbreak detection algorithms, and supported the development of laboratory information and reporting systems. She is a true interdisciplinary public health professional, advocating for and connecting with infectious disease experts and epidemiologists around the globe.
Linda is a former U.S. Peace Corps volunteer serving in Niger, West Africa, and a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She holds a Master’s of Public Health in International Health from Emory University, and an undergraduate degree in Health Services Administration from Providence College, where she studied in Salzburg, Austria.
“I am honored to step into the role of Executive Director and I have enjoyed every minute getting to know the mission of ISID, as well as the staff, our members, and partners across the world. I am thrilled to work alongside our President, Prof. Alison Holmes, and our Executive Committee members, Council, and Emerging Leaders. I look forward to a new phase at ISID and am excited about ISID’s future as we lead the global Infectious Disease community in innovative emerging disease surveillance, facilitate international knowledge exchange, and support the career development of infectious diseases and public health professionals globally” says Linda.
The ISID team is excited to start the next chapter with Linda leading the team. If you would like to connect with Linda, or would like to become involved with ISID’s work, please email [email protected].