STONINGTON, CT — A former Stonington resident is now serving with the federal Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. John Paul Bigouette is one of the leads on a recent article in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, which brings attention to the continuing efforts to eradicate polio worldwide.
Bigouette was a student runner growing up in Stonington. He later earned a Bachelor of Science in athletic training.
“I was injured a lot as an athlete, so that’s why I went to pursue my degree in athletic training at Sacred Heart University,” Bigouette said.
Bigouette started his work with CDC as an officer in the Epidemic Intelligence Service, a fellowship program renowned for its investigative and emergency response efforts.
Now he is lead the on the Data & Analytics Working Group for the Global Polio Eradication’s Initiatives: Outbreak Response & Preparedness Group, which oversees global strategy on polio outbreak responses. Since the founding of the initiative in 1988, polio have plummeted from 100,000s worldwide to only hundreds.
However, he said that until the disease is eradicated, “polio anywhere means a risk of polio for all since the virus is highly contagious.”
The CDC report that Bigouette worked on was a snapshot of the progress towards polio eradication in 2023. The report found that while the number of polio cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where polio remains endemic, decreased during 2023, environmental surveillance detected transmission outside known areas. Also, eight new countries reported polio outbreaks, according to Bigouette.
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He said Stonington shaped him during his formative years.
“Stonington will always be home to me. While I may have been born across the river in Rhode Island, I grew up in Pawcatuck and graduated from Stonington High School back in 2012 (Go Bears!!).”
He said he traces a lot of his core values to Stonington. In particular, he said his cross country and track coach, Tom McCoy, taught him the value of teamwork.
“I use that when working with other epidemiologists and partners,” he said. “I also learned the work ethic needed to get the race or job done but also to make sure to enjoy the process along the way.”
During summers, he worked at Kelley’s Pace in Mystic Village, where he helped people “from all over who have come in to find the right running shoe.”
Bigouette also holds an Master of Science in Kinesiology from Indiana University and both Master of Public Health and doctoral degrees in Public Health (Epidemiology) from Oregon State University.
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