MSU College of Veterinary Medicine Dean Lonnie King will fly to Atlanta on Friday to begin a year-long stint as the director of the new Office of Strategy and Innovation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC.
"It's a leadership position and involved in establishing strategy and direction for public health," King said. "(The office is) also involved in new innovative ways of operating the agency."
The appointment is a recognition of the international leadership King displayed regarding human to animal disease interfaces, MSU President Lou Anna Simon said.
"It reflects very positively on the work he has done at MSU and continues the land-grant tradition of providing expertise to federal agencies in support of their critical work," Simon said.
Although King is a professor of veterinary medicine, he was chosen by CDC Director Julie Gerberding based on the mix of skills he will carry to the CDC, said the center's spokesman Tom Skinner.
"He brings very unique skills - in organization dynamics, change management and strategic planning," Skinner said. "When you combine that with his background as a scientist, he is an invaluable addition to CDC."
One of his goals is to find the best ways to ensure the funds spent by the CDC are making a difference in public health, King said.
"A billion dollars were spent trying to reduce obesity, and we will try to measure if that money is being well spent and is making an impact," King said. "We also find new educational strategies we can implement."
King will return to MSU periodically throughout the year, but Janver Krehbiel, senior associate dean for the college, will step in as acting dean.
"The appointment is a tremendous compliment to Dean King, the veterinary medical school and MSU," Krehbiel said. "It's an opportunity to represent the public health responsibly for the veterinary profession."
King said he hopes to call attention to the issues of veterinary medicine in public health.
"Seventy-five percent of the new diseases from the last 30 years come from animals," King said. "I hope to use a veterinary perspective to help understand these disease strands."
Besides making sure the CDC is spending funds correctly, King said he also will be in charge of establishing better ways to reduce health problems in minority populations and helping to set the legislative policy agenda for the CDC.
"It's a great opportunity to be part of a leadership team that helps mold the strategies of public health for the country," King said. "I look forward to learning a lot of new methods and techniques that I can bring back to MSU."
