The CPH Practice, Service, and Workforce Development team invites you to watch our newest “Career Spotlight” video featuring Dr. Margo Riggs. This series highlights various Kentucky public health practitioners sharing how their unique journeys led them to a career in public health.
Dr. Riggs retired as a Captain in the US Public Health Service in April 2022 after serving at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an epidemiologist. She’s worked in domestic and international public health throughout her career building public health capacity in underserved areas.
Her video highlights her work as an Associate Director at CDC Zambia supporting the establishment of the first Zambia National Public Health Institute, a CDC Epidemiology Field Officer supervisor, and more recently her work with the Kentucky Department for Public Health responding to natural disasters or outbreaks and building environmental health capacity.
She is the recipient of several national honors and awards including a Distinguished Service Medal in 2022, Meritorious Service Medal 2021, and the US Embassy Mission Meritorious Service Award 2019. Dr. Riggs is inspired by serving local communities to reduce health disparities and to change misperceptions by confronting systems and policies that hinder improvement.
The University of Kentucky College of Public Health is undergoing a review by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) for re-accreditation. Part of this process includes the invitation to provide third-party comments. Anyone, including students, alumni, employers, community partners, etc., is allowed to share relevant information about the college directly with CEPH. If you would like to provide input to CEPH to inform their review, send your comments to submissions@ceph.org by May 4th, 2025.
