When she was a little girl growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, all Cheryl Dietrich wanted to be was an equestrian. More than anything else, she loved that feeling of flight when the horse was at the apex of its jump. One year—in perhaps her constant need for forward motion—she traveled to Madagascar as part of a study abroad program in public health. The trip ignited a spark and a lifelong passion for the field. Years later, this passion has taken her crisscrossing the globe, from Senegal to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Malawi working with some of the world’s leading public health agencies to battle some of the world’s deadliest epidemics.
Her travels eventually took her to Johannesburg, South Africa where, as a public health fellow for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she helped to support the nation's largest household survey on HIV. Under the leadership of the South African government, survey teams visit thousands of households across the country to gather data—interviewing people, implementing rapid HIV tests and providing test results to participants in minutes. It’s all part of an effort to help the country end this deadly epidemic by highlighting not only the impact of current efforts, but the gaps and challenges that remain. “I may not be a doctor or have direct interaction with patients, but I get to play a role,” she says. “I get to help those making the decisions have the best data and the best information to ultimately bring an end to this epidemic. And that’s a great feeling!”