encourage the medical community to look at the needs of people after cancer.” Dr. Pollack has been involved in helping define the role of public health for cancer survivors. Dual-board-certified in internal medicine and general preventive medicine, Dr. Pollack has additional training in the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), on policy, management, and program evaluation. Although she has a desk job regarding cancer, Dr. Pollack can also be called to work when there’s a disease outbreak or after a natural disaster. “Everyone’s on alert now for Zika,” she says, adding, “I had a role in Ebola for preparing U.S. hospitals in “Because Rutgers is very skills-based and offers quality public education in a state that’s diverse racially, linguistically, and economically, I received an educational experience that isn’t available at most private schools.” the event of domestic outbreak.” She has also been deployed after hurricanes to monitor special-needs shelters, provided expertise at CDC’s call center to assist doctors around the United States in identifying the SARS virus and acquiring cultures, and was part of the preparedness team when the West Nile virus was first identified in Louisiana. Dr. Pollack emphasizes the fact that the CDC is the scientifically sound organization that makes decisions and recommendations affecting everyone. Since she first arrived to work for the CDC in Atlanta, she’s seen the organization grow in its ability to meet responses with public health preparedness. “They have to monitor, mobilize, and evaluate, always keeping a finger on the pulse of modern medicine and policies—and provide timely, sound information for Congress to make decisions,” she explains. Looking back on her decision to attend Rutgers, Dr. Pollack feels that diversity was one of the biggest benefits. “Because Rutgers is very skillsbased and offers quality public education in a state that’s diverse racially, linguistically, and economically, I received an educational experience that isn’t available at most private schools.” You could make the case that her decision contributed to the work she does to improve the health of millions. M Robert Wood Johnson I MEDICINE 43 COURTESY OF LORI A. POLLACK, MD ’99, MPH