BALTIMORE – Dr. Kevin Porter, director of Naval Medical Research Command’s (NMRC) Defense Infectious Diseases Directorate (DIDD) received the 2024 Black Engineer of the Year Awards (BEYA) Stars and Stripes United States Federal Agency Leadership Award on Friday, February 16.
The award was presented during the second annual Stars and Stripes award ceremony. The theme of the event centered around the pillars of influence, strength, support and honor.
Porter has worked in infectious disease research since 1990. His career to date includes 23 years of active-duty service in the U.S. Navy, and an additional 12 years as a Navy civilian and director of DIDD, contributing to countermeasures for and the body of knowledge on infectious diseases of military importance. Under Porter’s leadership, the DIDD conducts research on infectious diseases that may negatively impact the health and readiness of deployed service members.
“I am deeply honored to have been selected for this prestigious award,” said Porter, “and truly grateful to my NMRC colleagues who nominated me.”
This award ceremony was part of a larger BEYA career day aimed at supporting and advancing diversity within the STEM fields. This year's conference theme, People, Process, and Technology, underscores ongoing commitment to acknowledging the contributions of black professionals in engineering. The Stars and Stripes awards are part of BEYA’s efforts in recognizing black excellence in the military.
“The biggest honor is the confirmation that my goals to mentor young active duty and civilian scientists and promote excellence in infectious diseases research and STEM are being reached,” Porter remarked.
Porter has the distinction of being Duke University’s first-ever black infectious disease fellow. Spectrum Magazine named him as a Science Spectrum Trailblazer in 2006 for his work in dengue virus research.
NMRC is engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies in austere and remote areas of the world to investigations in operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation, operational mission support, epidemiology and behavioral sciences.
Date Taken: | 02.20.2024 |
Date Posted: | 02.20.2024 13:50 |
Story ID: | 464282 |
Location: | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, US |
Web Views: | 171 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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