Dr. Kevin Cummings, Associate Professor
Dr. Kevin Cummings is an associate professor in the Department of Public and Ecosystem Health. He received both his PhD and DVM degrees from Cornell University, and has been teaching epidemiology and public health to students for the last 20 years.
Dr. Cummings’ research focuses on foodborne pathogens, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging infectious diseases. His current projects address a breadth of topics including Salmonella Dublin in dairy cattle, Campylobacter jejuni in dogs, the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife, and risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among Cornell students.
Dr. Cummings first became interested in public health while studying infectious disease epidemiology as a veterinary student at Cornell. He carried this interest into his years spent in clinical practice, which led to a teaching opportunity involving the Veterinary Public Health course at Cornell.
From Left to Right: Dr. Kevin Cummings, MPH Student Pooja Sen, and MPH Program Director Dr. Alex Travis
“This experience was very influential and crystallized my interest in epidemiology, and I decided to pursue a Ph.D. studying salmonellosis in dairy cattle under the mentorship of Dr. Lorin Warnick, now Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine,” says Cummings. “I have been very happily on the path of zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance ever since.”
Since joining the Program in 2017, Dr. Cummings works to provide a supportive atmosphere to ensure that students achieve the learning outcomes in the MPH curriculum. “The greatest reward is seeing students grow and progress over the duration of their time here, integrating and applying what they’ve learned along the way. If they get excited about epidemiology, all the better!”
Written by Katie Lesser and Zoe Wakoff