Patricia McQuilkin MD ’85 is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She is nationally known for her work in pediatric global health and was instrumental in jumpstarting critically needed healthcare programs in hospitals throughout Liberia during the Ebola epidemic that began in 2013.

McQuilkin’s academic interests have long been in working with underserved populations, both domestically and abroad. She has worked with Native Americans on the Navajo reservation in Arizona and with homeless families in central Massachusetts. More recently, she became interested in expanding these interests to work with underserved populations in a global setting. She has been actively involved in bringing pediatric residents and fellows to developing countries such as Liberia, Haiti and India to improve the care of children in these countries.

For seven years, McQuilkin has been working in Liberia, West Africa. During the Ebola epidemic, she watched as her African friends and colleagues on the frontlines became exposed to the lethal virus with no means to protect themselves. For this reason, in October 2015, McQuilkin applied for and received a generous 7.5 million dollar grant from the Paul G. Allen Foundation to help intervene in the epidemic.

Along with several colleagues from UMass Medical School, McQuilkin recruited physicians and nurses from the United States to work in Ebola treatment units and hospitals to help treat victims. They delivered 2 million dollars of protective gear, along with a healthcare worker training program, to all 21 government hospitals in Liberia to help restore essential healthcare and protect frontline workers. They also implemented Ebola diagnostic testing at government hospitals, traveling several times to Liberia during the epidemic.

A biochemistry major while at UMass Amherst, McQuilkin went on to receive her medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She then received her training in pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and has been on the faculty there since graduation.

McQuilkin has received outstanding community service awards from the UMass Medical School Women’s Faculty Committee and from the Boston Metro Liberian Community and the Connecticut Liberian Community. She was also a commencement honoree at the 2015 UMass Medical School commencement. McQuilkin attributes her humanistic approach to medicine to the diverse learning experiences and world-class education that she received at UMass Amherst and UMass Medical School.