Pia D.M. MacDonald, PhD, MPH

Assistant Research Professor
Department of Epidemiology
Project Director
NC Center for Emergency Preparedness
NC Institute for Public Health
School of Public Health
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
CB# 8165
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-8165

Dr. MacDonald is a newly appointed Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is working as Project Director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness. She earned an M.P.H. in Infectious Disease Epidemiology from Yale University and a Ph.D. in Epidemiological Sciences from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dr. MacDonald recently completed her training as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assigned to the Division of Public Health in North Carolina.

During Dr. MacDonald's tenure with CDC, she worked on a variety of infectious disease outbreak investigations. These included outbreaks of human and canine blastomycosis in a rural NC county, histoplasmosis among adventure travelers (from different U.S. states) to Nicaragua, tuberculosis in an inner city social network, and Streptococcus group A toxic shock syndrome. She was also involved in many foodborne disease outbreak investigations among them listeriosis in the Hispanic community associated with noncommercial Mexican-style fresh cheese made from contaminated raw milk sold by one local dairy, statewide Salmonella enteriditis associated with eggs from a certain multi-state distributor, gastrointestinal illness associated with Staphylococcus aureus contaminated food at a wedding, restaurant associated Salmonella heidelberg, and gastrointestinal illness associated with Clostridium perfringens at a large company picnic. Other activities included being involved with a study assessing the barriers to successful pregnancies in women with Phenylketonuria (PKU), using GIS and spatial statistical methods to compare the spatial distribution of HIV and syphilis cases in the year 2000 in six Syphilis Elimination Counties of North Carolina, assessing the health effects of three metal halide light exposure events in two schools and in a fish processing plant, and evaluating the sentinel chicken flock surveillance for Eastern Equine Encephalitis in North Carolina, 1989-1998. Direct bioterrorism and public health preparedness activities have included participation in the CDC syndromic surveillance activities in New York City following the atrocities of September 11, 2001 and in a one week USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and Field Deployments Training Course.