LEXINGTON, Ky. — Dr. Nicholas J. Van Sickels, Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at the University of Kentucky, has been awarded the 2026 Dr. Rice C. Leach Public Health Hero Award, according to the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. The award was presented April 30 by Health Commissioner Dr. Crystal Miller at an Urban County Council meeting, and Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton proclaimed that day “Dr. Nicholas Van Sickels Day.” Van Sickels earned the honor for his extraordinary efforts in combating infectious disease threats across Kentucky, particularly during recent measles and monkeypox outbreaks. The honor recognizes individuals who demonstrate exemplary leadership in promoting public health, remarkable contributions to public health programs, and actions that positively impact community health. During a measles outbreak in Jessamine County in early 2026 involving an unvaccinated community, Van Sickels provided critical leadership in managing diagnosis, follow-up, telemonitoring, treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis despite challenging winter weather and holiday weekend conditions. His work in creating a comprehensive measles testing and prophylaxis protocol in partnership with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, Kentucky Department for Public Health, and UK HealthCare has earned national recognition as a gold standard for infectious disease prevention. Beyond the measles outbreak, Van Sickels cared for the region’s first monkeypox patients and spearheaded a vaccination campaign that significantly reduced cases throughout Kentucky. The protocols he developed have been tested during real-world outbreaks in 2025 and 2026, successfully containing measles cases to single digits and preventing spread beyond individual families. The award was renamed in 2016 in memory of Dr. Rice C. Leach, Lexington’s former Commissioner of Health who spent more than 50 years as a public health physician and led the local health department to national accreditation. Leach died April 1, 2016. This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Lexington Health Department, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://www.lfchd.org/2026publichealthheroaward/. The post UK physician honored as Lexington Public Health Hero for infectious disease work appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less