Dr. Ravina Kullar, M.P.H. '12

Ravina Kullar completed her postdoctoral infectious diseases fellowship at Wayne State in the Anti-Infective Research Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Michael Rybak and Dr. Susan Davis.

During her postdoc, Kullar was impressed by the highly reputable and knowledgeable faculty at WSU. This, coupled with encouragement from her mentor Rybak, led Kullar to pursue her master's of public health in biostatistics and epidemiology in the WSU School of Medicine.

Kullar says one of her most memorable experiences was defending her thesis. "The faculty members present were so supportive and congratulatory of me graduating the program."

She also credits the mentorship she received at WSU as invaluable to her career success. "Dr. Michael Rybak has been one of my biggest mentors; he has been pivotal to helping me get where I am in my life right now with my career, always encouraging me and giving me tough love," Kullar says.

She also credits her experiences at Wayne State as integral in preparing her to analyze data, understand research methodologies and write the work she has published thus far.

Earlier this year, Kullar presented the TEDx talk "Antibiotic Resistance: What You Can Do to Prevent a Future Pandemic" in Bend, Oregon. In the talk, Kullar discusses the defining moment that fundamentally changed the course of her personal and professional life - a pivotal moment that led her to specialize in infectious diseases and taking action in the fight against antibiotic resistance, which is projected to impact more 10 million people worldwide per year by 2050.

After finishing her M.P.H., Kullar went on to serve as a faculty member at Oregon State University/Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, where she led the Infectious Diseases Antibiotic Stewardship program. At Oregon State, Kullar taught medical students, medical residents, pharmacy students and pharmacy faculty in infectious diseases. Kullar then moved to Los Angeles and took a position at Cubist Pharmaceuticals, where she served as the Clinical Scientific Director. She is currently the Infectious Diseases Research Scientific Director at Merck & Co., one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world.

To date, Kullar has published more than 30 papers and has been invited to give more than 50 talks around the world. Learn more at drravinakullar.com.