Georgetown Awards 3 Early-Stage Associate Professors with New $100K Research Fund
Dr. Timothy Newfield, a historical epidemiologist with joint appointments in the History and Biology departments was named one of the inaugural recipients of Georgetown University’s new Magis Prize, a $100,000 research award that also provides two semesters of dedicated research leave. The prize supports early-stage associate professors whose work promises significant scholarly impact. Dr. Newfield will use this funding to investigate the origins of smallpox, combining historical inquiry with biological methods, including analysis of ancient DNA, archival research, and interdisciplinary approaches that bridge the sciences and humanities. His project aims to deepen our understanding of how major infectious diseases emerge and evolve, enriching both historical perspectives and contemporary thinking about pathogen spillover and public health.