The story below is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
Her role in public health has been absolutely critical, and rewarding, but Beth Leffel is giving back in plenty of other ways, too.
Courtesy of Beth Leffel
When most people think of scientists, they think of socially awkward researchers who prefer to toil all day in a lab. While Beth Leffel is a serious scientific mind, she’s also a social butterfly and quite civic-minded.
She originally planned to attend medical school. “I just wanted to take care of people and I was determined to go to medical school,” she says.
As luck would have it, she was waitlisted for several programs, so she decided to pursue a master’s in public health at George Washington University.
“When I was in that program, I really fell in love with toxicology and decided that I didn’t want to go to medical school anymore,” she remembers. Her decision was also influenced by the observation that to be a successful community doctor, she would have to embrace the business side of things, which she didn’t care for. She later obtained her PhD in toxicology.
The Botetourt County native moved to Northern Virginia after graduating from college and getting married.
Her husband, Darrin Hill, worked in air traffic control while she worked on developing animal research models for aerosolized biothreat agents as a research scientist at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Maryland. She left to join some smaller pharmaceutical companies after 10 years.
She attributes her work ethic to her experience growing up on a dairy farm. “I had several calves that it was my responsibility to feed them,” she says. “Dairy farms run 24/7. The cows have to be milked twice a day.”
After spending 25 years in rural Clarke County, she built a house on her parents’ large farm in Eagle Rock. By that point she had started her own company. Despite living far from a research hub, she’s still able to work in the field as a scientific consultant to pharmaceutical companies on the development of drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Leffel had the chance to put her knowledge to use on the frontlines. Having registered with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps years earlier, she was activated to work on outreach for Roanoke City and Alleghany Health Districts. She was later asked to fill in for the emergency planner.
Courtesy of Beth Leffel
“I got to plan COVID testing clinics, then vaccine rollouts,” she says. “It was exciting because I got to reach into the community.”
Public service and volunteerism are in her blood. Growing up, she watched her mother, Mary, contribute to her community as both a public-school teacher and an active church member. Her father, Jack, had a lengthy public service career, serving on Botetourt County’s school board and board of supervisors, prior to his death in 2018. Additionally, her sister, Anna, is the current school board chair.
“You just took care of your neighbors and that’s the way it was. I guess I didn’t realize that there’s another way to be,” she says of her family’s values.
Like both her father and sister, Leffel served on a school board, in Clarke County. During her time as chair, she helped guide the division as it searched for a new superintendent.
“Living in a small town also lets you be involved in a lot of different activities,” she says. The majority of her volunteer hours are put in at the Eagle Rock Ruritan Club and Eagle Rock Volunteer Fire & Rescue. “The goals of both organizations are overlapping.”
To help spark the next generation’s interest in STEM, Leffel came up with the idea of a community science fair. The Eagle Rock Science Festival, which took place on May 13 at Blue Ridge Vineyard, offered hands-on activities and community members the opportunity to show off their projects.
She also contributes in a broader way by serving on the boards of Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare and Valley Conservation Council, Secure and Resilient Commonwealth Panel and National Biodefense Science Board.
While she isn’t pushy about getting others to volunteer, she hopes they will gain as much fulfillment in engaging in community efforts as she does.
“Everybody needs to do their part to make the world better,” she says. “In small communities, there’s one degree of separation. You have a responsibility to take care of each other.”
As an empty nester—her son is a freshman at Roanoke College—she also occupies her time operating an Airbnb cabin on the James River. After the longtime owners passed away, she jumped at the chance to buy the property since it connects with the family farm. Surprisingly, she’s had guests from 14 states and Germany.
The story above is from our July/August 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!