Tim Jones, MD, has been named the 2017 recipient of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists' Pumphandle Award. The award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the field of applied epidemiology, is aptly named as a reminder of an 1854 effort to stop the spread of cholera in London. Physician John Snow removed the pumphandle from a well he believed was providing contaminated drinking water, and his simple action saved numerous lives.

Jones serves as Tennessee state epidemiologist and assistant commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health Communicable and Environmental Disease and Emergency Preparedness division. He has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications, works as a reviewer for 29 journals and serves on the editorial board of five journals, including as chairman of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. He has held multiple leadership positions with CSTE, including service as president in 2013-2014, has testified before the U.S. Congress, and has served on numerous national advisory committees.