The UNLV Contact Tracing Team was named Program of the Year by the Nevada Public Health Association at its 2021 Annual Conference, which took place Sept. 13-15. 

Led by School of Public Health graduate students, the contact tracing team has been at the forefront of Southern Nevada's COVID-19 response since spring 2020, having investigated more than 43,000 cases (one out of every six cases reported in Clark County) as of August 2021. In collaboration with the Southern Nevada Health District, the team employed over 250 UNLV students who put their training and knowledge from the classroom into real action as they set up protocols, managed daily operations, and interviewed individuals exposed to COVID-19. 

The team was led by students Casey Barber, Jacklynn DeLeon, Kristina Mihajlovski, and Brianna Rivera. Brian Labus (Epidemiology & Biostatistics) served as the principal investigator for the program.