Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 21, 2026
Remote Laboratory Management: Respiratory Virus Diagnostics
Published on: April 6, 2019
Academic Medical Support to the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Liberia
Patricia A McQuilkin1, Michelle Niescierenko, Ann Marie Beddoe
1P.A. McQuilkin is director, Pediatric Global Health, and associate professor of pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts; ORCID: http://www.orcid.org/0000-0001-9812-1932. M. Niescierenko is director, Global Health, Boston Children's Hospital, and instructor in emergency medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. A.M. Beddoe is director, Global Women's Health, and assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai, New York, New York. J. Goentzel leads the Humanitarian Response Lab, Center for Transportation and Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Massachusetts; ORCID: http://www.orcid.org/0000-0002-5689-300X. E.A. Graham is associate professor emeritus, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, Washington. P.C. Henwood is assistant director, Division of Emergency Ultrasound, Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and instructor in emergency medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. L. Rehwaldt is assistant professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai, New York, New York, and director, Obstetrics & Gynecology Residency Program, Liberian Post Graduate Medical College, Monrovia, Liberia. S. Teklu is associate professor, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Department of Emergency Medicine, Addis Ababa University School of Medicine, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. J. Tupesis is graduate medical education liaison and professor of emergency medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison Global Health Institute, Madison, Wisconsin. R. Marshall is president, Liberian Post Graduate Medical College, Monrovia, Liberia.
Abstract:
During the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa (2014-2016), many faculty, staff, and trainees from U.S. academic medical centers (i.e., teaching hospitals and their affiliated medical schools; AMCs) wished to contribute to the response to the outbreak, but many barriers prevented their participation. Here, the authors describe a successful long-term academic collaboration in Liberia that facilitated participation in the EVD response. This Perspective outlines the role the authors played in the response (providing equipment and training, supporting the return of medical education), the barriers they faced (logistical and financial), and elements that contributed to their success (partnering and coordinating their response with both U.S. and African institutions). There is a paucity of literature discussing the role of AMCs in disaster response, so the authors discuss the lessons learned and offer suggestions about the responsibilities that AMCs have and the roles they can play in responding to disaster situations.
