Richard Reithinger
Distinguished Fellow, Global Health
Distinguished Fellow, Global Health
PhD, Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Postgraduate Diploma, Economics, University of Sussex
MSc, Medical Entomology and Diploma of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
BSc (with honors), Biology and Psychology, University of Sussex
Dr. Reithinger describe what sparked his passion and drew him to the field of epidemiology, his first job, and the best thing about working at RTI. Learn more about Dr. Reithinger's commitment and wild ride to tackling global diseases.
My spark for the field of infectious disease prevention and control began in high school, where I was drawn to the natural sciences. It was only when conducting field research on cutaneous leishmaniasis in the coffee plantations around Cali, Colombia, that I truly felt I had found a home. This was during my time as a graduate student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and my passion for what I have been doing ever since was ignited: infectious disease prevention, surveillance, control, and elimination, and more broadly, the nexus between public health, anthropology, education, and economic livelihood.
Besides my love for the natural sciences, my love for different cultures, foods, the outdoors, and travel also drew me to my field. If you like all of these, a career in global health certainly will get you to places across the globe, many of which are not necessarily high on the list of your typical tourist destination.
My first paid job was manning information booths at various trade shows in Cologne, Germany. Essentially, I directed trade show visitors to the various exhibits. My first “science” job was dissecting fruit flies to assess for the presence or absence of certain genes that are important in the fly’s development life cycle. It’s been a long, long journey since and quite the wild ride!
The richness and depth of professional talent at RTI is truly astonishing. Even after 10 years at RTI, I still meet people conducting fascinating research and projects that I had no idea about. Also, given that RTI is not only an organization that works in health, but works on a myriad of other priority societal issues, the possibilities of working on multidisciplinary teams across subject matters are endless.
When Dr. Reithinger is not working at RTI, he loves exploring the myriad of hiking trails across Virginia and West Virginia with his two dogs. He is also the father of twin daughters, who have now gone off to college.
Read More about Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): Accelerating Control and Elimination
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