Public health alumna named Carilion director of surgical research after prestigious fellowship, multiple degrees

After learning and growing from the many opportunities she’s had as a Department of Public Health student through Liberty University Online Programs, Sydney Webb (’23, ’24, ’25) is now furthering her career and aiding southwest Virginia as the Director of Research for the Department of Surgery at Carilion Roanoke (Va.) Memorial Hospital.

Webb has already spent five years at Carilion, spending most of that time in their infection control department handling the isolation of patients who were carrying infectious diseases. Last October, she moved to the department of surgery, and upon completing a graduate certificate in public policy in May, she said she approached her superiors with a desire to take on more of a leadership role in Carilion’s research efforts. She began her new role as director last month.

“The other departments within the hospital already had directors of research, but the department of surgery did not yet, and with my qualifications … everything just worked out, and they offered me the position,” she said. “I couldn’t be more excited and more honored.”

In her role, Webb oversees two surgical residencies — general surgery and plastic surgery — and their research programs, which include investigator-initiated research by Carilion residents or attending surgeons and industry-sponsored clinical trials.

“For the most part, it looks like reviewing potential clinical trials, working with our residents and attending surgeons on the projects that they have designed themselves, and ultimately supporting our faculty,” she said. “It’s called the Virginia Tech Carilion Residency Program because it’s a combination with Virginia Tech. We’re the only Level I trauma center in a 100-mile radius, and we’re also the biggest research institute in this area.”

Webb has done all of her university-level education through Liberty’s online programs, beginning with an associate degree in medical office assisting, then a bachelor’s in health sciences in 2023, and a Master of Public Health in 2024 before she received her graduate certificate this year. It was during her undergraduate studies that she discovered a passion for public health and research.

“In my bachelor’s program, one of the classes that they have you take is a research class where they’re teaching you the methods of researching, and taking that class was very transformative for me,” she said. “I realized how much I actually liked researching, how much I liked having a question and finding the answers myself, and then that formed the way that I chose my elective classes from there. Part of public health is bettering the community that you serve, and sometimes we have to do research in order to know what the best thing for our community is.”

This newfound interest led her to begin studying the rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States, which she continues to work on. As part of her degree-required practicum in the MPH program, Webb did research for the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, studying congenital syphilis and how its rate has increased by over 1,000% in the last 10 years.

Though she was already doing the Medical Institute practicum while also being a mother of four, Webb was encouraged by her husband and others to apply for another tremendous opportunity around the same time: the Johns Hopkins Fellowship. Currently concluding its third annual cycle, the fellowship is a partnership between Liberty’s School of Health Sciences and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine in which three Liberty MPH students spend 12 months learning about healthcare policy reform from leading researchers and advocates.

“After talking with my mentors, my husband, and other members of my family, I decided that I was going to do both and that both (opportunities) would contribute greatly to my career and (what) I wanted to do,” she said. “I knew that it was just something that I needed to make work, even though it was going to be grueling.”

The fellowship was led by Dr. Marty Makary, a renowned surgeon and Johns Hopkins professor, before he was sworn in as commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this spring. While in the fellowship, Webb and the other students in the program were able to attend the confirmation hearing of Makary in Washington, D.C., on March 6.

The fellowship is now led by Dr. Caitlin Hicks, a Johns Hopkins professor who is a renowned vascular surgeon and public health policy researcher.

Webb spent the 2024-25 fellowship studying hormone replacement therapy for perimenopausal women, as well as collaborating on research regarding food additives and chronic diseases in the U.S. The team project and Webb’s syphilis research were both accepted for presentation by the American Public Health Association, and her hormone replacement study is currently on the waitlist.

“The fellowship is really what helped shape me as a director,” she said. “It helped me by seeing the research process from start to finish. Having the leadership and the mentorship that I did helped me to know how to mentor others. The leaders that we had were really important to helping us grow as researchers and seeing all the different aspects of research.”

She added that she and her husband, who was in nursing school at the time, were able to juggle their responsibilities as parents and professionals during this period. They hope their ambition inspires their children to chase their own aspirations in the future.

“Looking back on it now, I’m not really sure how we made it work,” she said. “My husband had such a big part in helping me get through school and helping with the kids to where I was able to do this, including going to Baltimore and D.C. when I needed to for the fellowship. I can personally say that I’m proud that our kids got to watch us do this. It really did show them that you can do whatever you put your mind to, and that there are no excuses.”