Photo: Emory University Award of Distinction recipients 2016. Sonia Bell, back row, second from the left.
Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. recently recognized several outstanding employees with Awards of Distinction. These employees, including 1998 Carroll High School graduate, Sonia Bell were selected for the exceptional dedication to their positions at the university. Bell serves as the Senior Administrator for the Serious Communicable Diseases Program and has been instrumental in establishing policies and procedures, organizing recruitment and training of healthcare personnel working in the unit and in 2014, Bell’s leadership was critical when Emory University was named the first facility in the United States to care for patients with the Ebola virus. When the initial Ebola outbreak occurred, Bell wrote an 88-page manual on how to transport a contagious patient to equipped hospitals and how to dispose of equipment after treating infected patients. Her work was pivotal in successfully caring for four Ebola patients while maintaining the safety of the healthcare staff. As one of the two primary coordinators of the National Ebola Training and Education Center, Bell has trained over 600 healthcare workers and public health officials around the globe. Bell has also been responsible for over $30 million in grant funding for her program as well as working with the State of Georgia’s Department of Public Health to improve infectious disease preparedness in the state.
