Infection investigator: 2-time Public Health grad applies love of puzzles to health care

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2025) — As a teenager, Faith Fursman loved puzzles. And in the era of famous infectious disease outbreaks like Ebola and Zika, she became fascinated by health care trends like vaccination and infection rates.

She was curious about pursuing a career in the medical field, but felt like a patient-facing role wasn’t up her alley. She decided on pursuing a degree in public health when her mother suggested a perfect blend of puzzle-solving and disease tracking.

“I was trying to figure out what to do, because I knew I didn’t want to just go into medicine,” she said. “My mom was helping me figure it out, and she was like, ‘Hey, have you looked into epidemiology? Because that seems like what this is.’”

Born in Fairfax, Virginia, Fursman was part of an Army family, which meant frequent moves. During her father’s service, they spent time in Wisconsin, New York, South Carolina, Alaska and even Germany.

“Most people don’t imagine a childhood filled with moving boxes and cross-country drives,” she said. “But that’s the reality of growing up in a military household — uncertain of what exactly the future holds.”

In 2014, Fursman and her family settled in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where her father worked for — and then retired from — Fort Knox. While at North Hardin High School, she participated in a program with Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, earning her associate’s degree in science concurrently with finishing her final two years of high school. That experience benefited her in more ways than she anticipated.

“It actually lined up really well, because COVID hit right in the middle my junior year,” she said. “While everyone else was trying to figure out how to do high school classes online, I had already been doing hybrid classes, so it was very easy.”

With funding from Veterans Affairs available to cover her tuition anywhere in Kentucky, Fursman explored several public health programs in the state. She settled on the University of Kentucky College of Public Health after learning more about the potential public health path into pharmacy school and taking a tour of the campus.  

Plus, she jokes, royal blue is the superior color.

“Luckily, I hated — and am still not a fan of — the color red,” she said. “Little did I know at the time, choosing blue over red would alter my life forever.”

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Arriving at UK, Fursman had an idea of where her college career might ultimately take her — pharmacy. While many undergrads choose a STEM degree as their background, she went into public health because of its broad application across many disciplines and the chance to gain a broader perspective on health and medicine.

“It was a lot of dipping my toe into different things — classes on health behavior, environmental health, epidemiology,” she said. “It’s a very broad degree; public health is everywhere and everything.”

A class she now cites as one of her favorites was an elective she reluctantly signed up for: health policy. Taught by UK associate professor Richard Ingram, Dr.P.H., it’s an area of public health that focuses on promoting the health of individuals and communities through laws and regulations.

“I went into it thinking that I did not like policy, I did not like laws; but I knew I needed something in that time slot,” she said. “But he made you interested in the topic because of how passionate he was about the topic.”

While working through her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Fursman has also earned some real-world experience in epidemiology. As an infection prevention technician with UK HealthCare Infection Prevention and Control, she works with the team to regularly monitor, evaluate and test for infection risks — a critical component of patient safety.

“We’re trying to go in and prevent potential problems,” she said. “It’s infection prevention, we’re just trying to guide people in the right direction.”

She also sought out opportunities to get involved in research. Senior IPAC Medical Director Takaaki Kobayashi, M.D., joined UK HealthCare in July 2024 with an extensive background in research — to date, he has already authored or co-authored more than 110 peer-reviewed publications covering a wide range of topics around infectious disease, epidemiology, and infection prevention and control.

“Faith proactively reached out to me with research ideas that stemmed from her daily work in IPAC,” Kobayashi said. “Her dedication and drive have been truly impressive.”

“I heard that he was very into research and published a lot at previous hospitals,” Fursman said. “And I kind of wanted to do that. So I sat down and was like, ‘I’d like to work with you and do some research if we can… here are my ideas. What do you think?’ And then we ran with that.”

Kobayashi understands the benefits that a public health degree can bring to the medical field. He graduated from medical school in 2008, but chose to pursue his own master’s degree in public health from the University of Iowa to bolster his role as an infectious disease physician.

“I am frequently required to interpret epidemiologic data, design quality improvement initiatives, and collaborate across various sectors,” he said. “Pursuing a Master of Public Health degree allowed me to formally build these essential skills, and it’s been invaluable to both my professional growth and the programs I oversee.”

Working in infection prevention and control also requires close collaboration with major entities outside of UK, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local public health departments. Fursman also sought experience in this area: Since January 2023, she’s been working with the Kentucky Department of Public Health to complete her practicum requirement for the College of Public Health. Collaborating with Kentucky’s State Public Health Veterinarian Kelly Giesbrecht, D.V.M., Fursman’s main project focused on tracking rabies data and then developing educational materials. Because children often haven’t learned how to safely interact with wild animals, they’re most at-risk for bites or scratches that could lead to contracting the deadly viral disease.

“There weren’t any readily available resources on rabies for kids in Kentucky, when kids are one of the most vulnerable populations,” Fursman said. “[Dr. G] said she might want to make a rabies curriculum for schools, so I said, ‘How about we do that for my practicum?’”

With her young audience in mind, Fursman developed a comprehensive rabies education curriculum that included interactive materials and hands-on activities. She and Giesbrecht took this program to the Kentucky State Fair for a test run and earned positive feedback.

“Overall, I would say we were very successful in communicating our message to attendees,” Fursman said. “We built connections with people who said they would love to have our materials presented, like at a children’s library and a STEM program.”

Fursman has also now presented some of her work on a national level. Just last week, she attended the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America along with other members of UK HealthCare IPAC, presenting a research poster on their Candida auris screening program. Currently, she’s preparing to submit a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal specializing in infection prevention and control. These sorts of experiences are invaluable — not just for the student, but for the experienced faculty who are guiding them, said Kobayashi.

“Providing research opportunities to trainees and students is essential for cultivating the next generation of researchers,” said Kobayashi, noting that students can bring fresh perspectives to the process that experienced researchers could overlook. “In many cases, the relationship evolves into a mutually beneficial partnership, where both the mentor and mentee experience growth and success.”

“That’s something different about UK,” Fursman said. “It’s research-centered, it nurtures students to form these ideas and see what else could be out there… You can do internships, you can have a job that might lead you to it, but it feels like every road will lead back to research at UK.”

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Though Fursman initially considered pursuing the clinical side of pharmacy — a Pharm.D. degree — her experiences the past few years have shifted her perspective. She’s been accepted in the UK College of Pharmacy beginning this fall with plans to pursue a Ph.D.

Erin Abner, Ph.D., a UK College of Public Health professor of epidemiology and faculty member with the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, reinforces the broad appeal of earning a public health degree as a launching pad for a career in health care.

“The MPH is valuable for students because it provides them lots of options for next steps,” Abner said. “Many students go on to pursue other professional degrees, like an M.D., or research degrees, like the Ph.D. Faith will be working on. It also provides students strong credentials to enter the workforce in a variety of settings, including government public health and nonprofits, but also hospitals, universities and industry.”

As chair of Fursman’s capstone committee, Abner guided the grad student’s final project, which explores factors related to off-label prescribing for antidepressant medication among older adults, including those with cognitive impairment and dementia.

“It’s been wonderful working with Faith,” Abner said. “She’s always been a great student, self-motivated and thoughtful. She’s a talented communicator, and she cares deeply about public health.”

After walking across the stage this Saturday to accept her master’s degree, Fursman says she’s looking forward to exploring where this new path in pharmacy might take her and is keeping her options open — but she knows research will be key in her future career.

“We don’t know what we don’t know,” she said. “But in research, that’s the goal: To figure out what we don’t know.”