Donald J. Krogstad, MD
The Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine is sorry to announce the passing of Dr. Donald Krogstad, a long-time professor of tropical medicine and a renowned malaria researcher. Don was a major contributor to the school and was known as an excellent colleague to the many faculty and researchers with whom he worked.
Donald J Krogstad M.D. passed away at home in Palm Coast, Florida on August 14th at age 77. He retired from Tulane University in October of 2019.
Dr. Krogstad was a physician and researcher who devoted his life to the treatment of infectious diseases, with an emphasis on malaria. That interest was first triggered when doing a two-month elective in Haiti at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer during his final year of medical school. It was furthered by two years at CDC as an EIS officer followed by a two-year stint as a physician in the Peace Corps in Malawi (1973-75). During his Malawi service he was proud to have treated a significant cholera outbreak in which he believed he was able to save many lives.
He became an internationally respected malaria researcher while at Washington University in Saint Louis. While on sabbatical at the NIH he was recruited to be chair of the Department of Tropical Medicine in the SPHTM of Tulane University in New Orleans. Don was a major contributor to the school and was known as an excellent colleague and mentor to the many faculty, researchers, and students with whom he worked in different leadership positions. Following his time as Department Chair Dr. Krogstad was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to advance infectious disease research and training in Mali, West Africa. This allowed him to lead a team of investigators from the US and West Africa to establish an NIH-funded International Center of Excellence in Malaria Research in 2010.
Dr. Krogstad was known for his gentle nature, diligence, collegial partnerships, and the students in whom he invested so much of his energy. He was always grateful for the opportunities and educational advancement that his undergraduate (Bowdoin 1965) and medical degree (Harvard 1969) programs afforded him. He is survived by his wife Fran, sons, Aric and Kirk, as well as three grandchildren. Donations can be made in memory of Don Krogstad, Past-President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, at www.astmh.org on the donation page or to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti, www.hashaiti.org.
Colonel Joseph Contiguglia
Dr. Joseph Contiguglia, beloved professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, passed away on October 1st at the age of 72, following a long illness.
Colonel Joseph Justin “The Count” Contiguglia was originally from Little Neck, New York. He earned his medical degree from the University of Siena in Italy and completed his residency at New York University. In 1977, Contiguglia began his distinguished career in the U.S. Air Force, and entered into active duty in 1978. His career started out with an assignment to the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing, Kadena, Okinawa, where he was forward deployed with special operations forces as part of the well-known Iran hostage rescue mission. Over several decades, he would go on to serve in leading positions for military medical operations all over the world, including serving as the flight surgeon to U.S. forces for Operation Elf One in Saudi Arabia. He also served a two-year stint as chief of occupational medicine and environmental health for the Royal Australian Air Force in 1985, where he organized the largest joint combined aeromedical evacuation exercise held in the South Pacific since the end of the Vietnam War.
From 1999 until his retirement from the military, Contiguglia served as director of operational medicine and chairman of the Department of Military Medicine at Keesler Medical Center in Mississippi. He was chairman of the Keesler Medical Antiterrorism Advisory Council and a member of the executive committee of the medical center. He was also a member of the Mississippi State Department of Health Hospital Bioterrorism & Emergency Preparedness Advisory Committee and served as a consultant on bioterrorism and military medicine to the Mississippi State Department.
During the course of his military service, Contiguglia found time to earn his Master of Public Health and Tropical Medicine from Tulane in 1981, and during his studies here met his future wife Sylvie, a fellow student. They married and went on to have three children. He also earned an MBA from St. Mary’s University in 1990.
Upon retiring from the Air Force in 2007, he returned to the Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine more than thirty years after earning his degree here to help found the disaster management program. As clinical professor of environmental health sciences, he taught at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and continued to serve as a consultant to the State of Mississippi, helping to strengthen disaster response programs following Hurricane Katrina.
“While Joe served the world, his heart was always here with us on the Gulf Coast, creating a different kind of troops: a cadre of forces armed with weapons of knowledge and frontline expertise to fight off disasters and diseases and promote health,” said Dr. Maureen Lichtveld, former chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, who knew him well.
He is survived by his wife Sylvie, his sister Katherine Stone, his three children and three grandchildren. His family has said that they are grateful for the Tulane Cancer Center, especially Dr. Nakhle Saba, for their help and support during his difficult and long disease.
Col. Contiguglia will be buried in Mt. St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing, New York, at a small, family ceremony. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that money be donated to the following charities supported by Contiguglia throughout his life: Boys Town, St. Joseph Indian School, Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The Department of Environmental Health Sciences is also working with the Office of Advancement on plans to create an award in Dr. Contiguglia’s memory.
The family welcomes memories and condolences at the Lakelawn Metairie website.