Dr. Witold Migala has traveled the world hunting viruses.

Polio, cholera, typhoid and guinea worm outbreaks have taken the epidemiologist everywhere from Haiti to Madagascar to Nigeria.

Dr. Migala was in the first UNT Health Science Center cohort to graduate with the Master of Public Health degree in 1997 and earned his PhD through UNTHSC’s up-and-coming, new Public Health program in 2000. He returned to teach for the School of Public Health (SPH) and serve as director of its MPH in Epidemiology program. He developed the school’s Global Health Graduate Certificate program.

Dr. Migala served 10 years as chief epidemiologist for the city of Fort Worth. After 9/11, he was appointed Executive Director of the city’s bioterrorism program and led the crafting of the city’s response plan to a bioweapons attack, including developing plans for mass emergency vaccination campaigns.

Not only has Dr. Migala impacted the world and our community, his experiences offered HSC students perspectives far beyond traditional textbook cases. He has inspired the next generation of public health experts.

Contribute Honor your HSC hero today! Please make a tribute gift, submit a photo or share a story that you value. Join us throughout 2020 as we celebrate the people, events and innovations that made UNTHSC all it is today — and look ahead to the next 50 years. For the 50th anniversary, team members nominated people whose contributions make them HSC Heroes. Each week, a new Hero will be revealed. View the list of all our Hero profiles published so far this year. There is a new one each week.