Leonard F. Peruski, PhD, MSc
Research Interests
Prior to joining the Wadsworth in May 2023, Dr. Peruski led international laboratory operations for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Over his 30-year career, Dr. Peruski has spent 17 years stationed overseas developing sustainable laboratory capacity and guiding laboratory-centric public health research in more than 70 countries, living in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Dr. Peruski has also worked several significant public health responses including serving as the commander of the U.S. military team that deployed to New York City in the aftermath of the 2001 anthrax attack and leading the military team that provided biodefense testing at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He also served as the CDC lead in Nigeria during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and has been deployed extensively during outbreaks in southeast Asia for anthrax, botulism and influenza, and across Latin American for Zika and Chikungunya viruses.
- Sustainable laboratory capacities and laboratory-centric public health research to address critical needs and gaps for populations and communities
- Developing and implementing programs to strengthen and codify laboratory leadership and foster the next generation of public heatlh scientists
- Laboratory-based detection and surveillance of diseases of public health concern
- Translation of basic research into clinical and public health practice