Dr. Aileen Marty left Miami on Thursday on her way to Nigeria, where she will join a team of experts from around the world to help fight the Ebola virus.

 Marty, who teaches at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, was recruited by the World Health Organization to serve with the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network.

Marty is no stranger to Ebola or West Africa. In over 30 years of practicing medicine, 25 of them as a Navy doctor, she has traveled the world, visiting 50 countries and treating diseases like leprosy, dengue, malaria and Ebola.

In addition to treating patients in West Africa, her work within her team will be focused on threat analysis and risk assessment, areas where she has decades of experience. The fact that the FIU College of Medicine has extensive experience and resources in data analysis, she said, can be a significant asset in processing the information and lead to more efficient containment of the outbreak.

Marty served as commander, medical corps, in the U.S. Navy, specializing in tropical medicine, infectious disease pathology, disaster medicine, and in the science, medical response and policy involving weapons of mass destruction. She attended the Navy War College, where she trained in strategic studies, diplomacy, joint military operations and the art of war. The Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) recognized her as an expert on chemical, biological, radiation and high-energy weapons and called on her to help develop plans, training and policy for government agencies including the White House and the National Security Administration.

Marty is one of only 403 people listed in the international roster as a member of the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Team for Weapons of Mass Destruction.  She is a graduate of the University of Miami School of Medicine.