Rising Leader winner Nicole Stone inspires team, earns national epidemiology award
When Nicole Stone learned she was a finalist for a first-of-its kind award, she felt her chances of standing on the stage to accept it at a prestigious epidemiologists’ conference were slim to none.
But the smattering of team members who accompanied her to Salt Lake City for the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) conference – not to mention a veritable legion of supporters back home in Indiana – firmly believed otherwise.
And they weren’t shy about telling everyone who’d listen.
When the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) Senior Enteric Epidemiologist’s name was called to the CSTE stage to accept the organization’s first Rising Leader award, the whoops and hollers that accompanied her were emblematic of the impact she’s had on her colleagues.
The presenters made note of the raucous reception saying, “I believe you might have heard their enthusiasm [because of the loud cheers],” Stone explained.
Nicole Stone was recently honored at a national epidemiologist conference with the organization’s first-ever “Rising Leader” award. Left to right are (back row) Madi Asbell, Hailey Vest, Lindsay Joy-Wenning, Nicole Stone, Shawn Pence, Kira Richardson, Layne Mounsey, and Haley Beeman. In front are Dr. Jen Brown, Makayla Culbertson, and former IDOH epidemiologist Mugdha Golwalkar.
Stone’s team obviously cares about her, though leaving it at that may be a bit of an understatement; they reciprocate and appreciate her intent to be a leader who builds up her team members and colleagues and who seeks to bring out the best in them in ways that inspire.
Enteric Epidemiologist Dr. Jesse Knibbs, for example, wrote in a full-page nomination letter that she sees Stone as a mentor who helped guide her into a new career chapter.
“Over the last year, Nicole has helped me explore my love for the food industry in a health- or safety-focused lens, compared to a regulatory lens acquired in my prior position,” she said.
The award “recognizes an early or mid-career individual who makes significant contributions to STLT [state, tribal, local, and territorial] epidemiology practice,” the CSTE website states.
With that in mind, it might be unfathomable to think that, under different circumstances, Stone might not have followed a path into epidemiology at all.
“I realized in undergrad [at Indiana University] that I wanted to go into public health, and probably epidemiology,” Stone said. “I thought about biomedical research, but that just wasn’t really for me. I got a history degree because I wanted to graduate and get my master’s in public health (MPH) after.”
Soon enough, however, she found a path that brought several of her disparate interests together.
“I took some classes about the history of infectious diseases and some epidemiology intro courses,” said Stone. “And I found this was the perfect little niche for me – some math, history … it was the exact right mesh of my skills and interests.”
In 2016, she earned her MPH from the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and soon after joined the Marion County Public Health Department, working in chronic disease. She then took a position as a waterborne disease epidemiologist with IDOH.
The CSTE Rising Leader award.
Success IN-SEIT
Stone eventually found herself working in Enteric Disease within the Epidemiology Resource Center, now the Infectious Disease Epidemiology & Prevention Division (IDEPD). She later took on her current role, where she manages a team of four while also lending her talents to help manage and mentor the Indiana Student Epidemiology Investigation Team (IN-SEIT).
That work allows Stone to help encourage future professional epidemiologists. She does so alongside fellow epis like Maddie Asbell and Caitlin Mark, who together supervise a total of seven IN-SEIT team members.
Knibbs explained that, under Stone’s leadership, IN-SEIT has expanded to incorporate student investigators from five different IDEPD and HIV/STD/Viral Hepatitis program areas. This allows the team to broaden its reach while also dramatically expanding the opportunity for Hoosier students to participate.
“This program growth has also allowed for other epidemiologists to step into supervisory positions, expanding their skill sets and experiences, while having a mentor available to help them learn how to lead these student teams,” Knibbs said.
Stone sees parallels in her opportunity to help guide young public health professionals in much the way she found similar support when her career was just beginning.
After only about seven years working in this field, Nicole Stone’s career is still in its early stages; even so, her list of accomplishments is already a lengthy one.
She was integral in IDOH’s contact tracing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, which helped track the spread of that respiratory illness during its zenith. She’s also worked to foster leadership and developmental opportunities for her team members.
“She inspires and pushes those of us on her team to find topics that interest each of us and pursue activities where we will expand our career networks and knowledge base,” Dr. Knibbs wrote in the Rising Leader award nomination letter. “She works hard to find us funding and available time to attend conferences and workshops as well.”
IDEPD Outbreak Program Director Shawn Pence also drafted a nomination letter, though she indicated her response could have gone on for much longer than a single page.
“I could have written a book,” she said.
Colleague Caitlin Mark was the third team member to throw Stone’s name into the running to be the conference’s first "Rising Leader” award winner.
Show of support
The ovation Stone received when she accepted her award was another testament to the genuine affection her teammates carry for her. Since the award presentation was watched via livestream by staff working back in Indiana, you might say the reception was loud enough to be heard from the Beehive State capital all the way to Indy.
“It was really nice to have so much support in person,” said Stone. “We had a nice-size group from IDOH that could attend the conference. And Jesse [Knibbs] had let people know that the session was going to be livestreamed for CSTE members to watch in the conference room at 2 N. So, that was really, really sweet, too.”
Stone, who loves all things Halloween and is an unabashed “Swiftie” (an affectionate term for Taylor Swift fans), said it feels “great to be recognized” with the Rising Leader award, and having her team – and even some of those she looks up to her in her field – able to celebrate with her made it all the more special.
“Everyone at this agency is here because we have a passion for public health and for what we do,” Stone said. “I just love what I do, and I love talking to people about what I do.”
Story by Brent Brown, Indiana Department of Health