The Tami Fisk International Travel Award
Tamara "Tami" Fisk
Tami continues to be an inspiration to the Division of Infectious Diseases and to all those who knew her.
Tami Fisk, MD, knew she wanted to work overseas as a doctor from the time she was 10, and never lost sight of that goal. She grew up in Denver, but fulfilled her childhood dream to help those less fortunate on the other side of the world. She worked to improved the lives of patients in Zambia, China, and Thailand as well as in the United States.
Dr. Fisk graduated medical school summa cum laude at Emory and completed a Med/Peds residency at the Rochester Medical Center in NY. Dr. Fisk returned to the US in 1998 for an Infectious Diseases fellowship at Emory. A few months later, she was diagnosed with melanoma. Despite undergoing multiple chemotherapy regimens, Tami continuing her training and research. After only a few months, she went into remission and remained so for several years. Fisk spent half of each year in Thailand researching emerging infectious diseases, including AIDS and also SARS during the outbreak. She spent the other half in year in Atlanta as an assistant professor at the Emory School of Medicine. Please read more about her courageous live: TamiFisk.com
Unfortunately, the cancer returned and eventually took her from us. Even as she suffered in illness, Tami continued to reach out to help and heal those around her. Read Tami's poem.
Tami's Work Continues to Inspire Many
Her work in Thailand to study febrile illness lead to the discovery of a new organism, Bartonella tamiae, named to honor her. This work was published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
The Fisk Family and MSI Professional Services have developed the Dr. Tami Fisk Scholarship for medically-trained individuals exploring and/or beginning medical service in China.
The CMDA, an organization with whom Tami had worked for several years, established the Tami Fisk Mission Travel Grant Fund to fund travel grants for individuals beginning medical service in East Asia.
In 2006, the Emory Division of Infectious Diseases established an endowment fund to further our fellows' studies in international medicine and to perpetuate Tami's ideals.