Courtney Marshall, MPH, has been named this year’s Promising Leader Award recipient at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health (CPH) Hall of Fame ceremony. The award, reserved for alumni who graduated from CPH within the last five years, recognizes individuals who have laid a strong foundation for promising careers in public health, leadership, and health outcomes.
“This honor means a lot,” Marshall said. “I know I'm five years into my public health career, but it still feels like I still have so much to learn. Also, I feel like I am one person, one cog in this very complex public health machine. I appreciate the fact that clearly people have seen the value and the work that I have done and the things that I've produced, but I feel like I'm only a tiny step in that process and I still have a long, long way to go.”
Now an epidemiologist and informatics specialist, Marshall leads a team of nine at the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) that focuses on advancing electronic data exchange and modernizing public health data systems.
“Our team is all about ensuring data flows smoothly between healthcare systems and the state and ultimately to local health departments and the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” she explained. "There’s a lot of nitty-gritty work involved, but it’s so rewarding to see how data can drive real, impactful change.”
Marshall’s path to public health was not conventional. Initially considering a PhD in microbiology after completing undergraduate degrees in biology and Spanish at Transylvania University, her career took a new direction when she accepted a Fulbright scholarship to teach in Malaysia.
“After seeing a few presentations by Dr. April Young on public health, I thought this seems really interesting. It was a totally different scale than I was used to working on. So, before I left for Malaysia, I applied to UK’s Master of Public Health program and thought, ‘If I get accepted, I’ll defer until I come back.’ I really just kind of stumbled into public health just because of interest,” she recalled.
Her decision proved to be a good fit. During her MPH program, a presentation by a CDC epidemiologist inspired her to pursue a more hands-on career in applied epidemiology.
“I realized I wanted something more hands-on, something in the real world. Applied epidemiology just felt right, with all its complexity and messiness,” Marshall said.
This revelation led her to a practicum placement with KDPH, where she supported investigations into foodborne and waterborne outbreaks—an experience that evolved into her current role.
Reflecting on the transformation her team underwent during the COVID-19 pandemic, Marshall said the informatics team barely existed pre-COVID with a team of just one or two. But with the influx of funding during the pandemic, the team grew rapidly.
Under her guidance, the team upgraded Kentucky’s disease surveillance infrastructure, established partnerships with more healthcare organizations, and set the state on a national path of leadership in public health technology.
"We've gone from one of the least developed states in terms of data infrastructure to one that's now setting standards for others," Marshall said. "We’re now sharing our immunization registry and electronic disease surveillance systems with the CDC and other states, which is a huge achievement."
To Marshall, the Promising Leader Award is more than a personal accolade.
“This award is a nod to everyone who works tirelessly to improve health outcomes,” she said. “It’s a responsibility to continue growing, learning, and making a difference. And I’m grateful to UK for giving me the foundation to do that.”
