Skye Fishbein, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Microbial Infection and Immunity, College of Medicine, has been appointed as a faculty co-advisor for the IDI Trainee Association (IDI-TA). Dr. Fishbein will serve as the Columbus campus faculty co-advisor, joining Kush Kumar Yadav, DVM, PhD, who will continue serving as the Wooster campus faculty co-advisor for the organization.
Skye Fishbein Appointed Faculty Co-Advisor for IDI Trainee Association
Skye Fishbein, PhD
Dr. Fishbein replaces Zelalem Mekuria, DVM, PhD, who served in a temporary IDI-TA faculty co-advisor role since February 2026. Under the IDI-TA faculty co-advisor model, one advisor is based on the Columbus Campus and one on the Wooster Campus, ensuring broad representation and support for trainees across The Ohio State University.
"Our infectious disease community has trainees from all walks of science, united by a common interest and passion for understanding and combating disease. IDI Trainee Association is the perfect way to knit our community together more closely, making a shared space for trainees to grow and shape research priorities at our university. I look forward to serving as the faculty co-advisor and helping this organization serve its trainees, our broader research community, and infectious disease initiatives in the greater Ohio region."
Notably, Dr. Yadav is a former president of the IDI Trainee Association and played an instrumental role in helping shape the organization during its formative years. Following graduation and a postdoctoral appointment at Virginia Tech, he returned to Ohio State in August 2025 as an assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences within the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences. He was subsequently appointed as an IDI-TA faculty co-advisor, continuing his longstanding commitment to trainee leadership, mentorship, and professional development.
"Trainees are tomorrow’s leaders, and that journey begins with every deliberate step they take toward growth in the school. Leadership development unfolds in the small moments, choosing curiosity over hesitation, responsibility over convenience, and collaboration over isolation. Each challenge becomes a chance to build resilience, each project an opportunity to practice initiative, and each piece of feedback a tool for shaping a stronger leadership identity. All these career shaping steps are what we hold together within IDI TA, creating a shared space where trainees gain opportunities, mentorship, and the confidence to grow into impactful leaders in infectious diseases field. In this way, today’s trainees carry the spark of tomorrow’s innovation, steadily becoming the leaders their future institutions/company will one day rely on."
The transition reflects the continued evolution and maturation of IDI-TA, which provides undergraduate, graduate, and professional students, postdoctoral scholars, research staff, and other trainees with opportunities for professional development, interdisciplinary networking, leadership development, and community engagement within Ohio State's infectious diseases community.
The IDI Trainee Association serves as the trainee arm of the Infectious Diseases Institute, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among trainees from all disciplines and at all stages of their academic and professional development. Through seminars, networking events, professional development opportunities, and community-building activities, IDI-TA helps cultivate future leaders in infectious disease research and practice.
With Dr. Fishbein joining Dr. Yadav as a faculty co-advisor, IDI-TA is well positioned to continue expanding opportunities for trainees while advancing its mission of building a vibrant and collaborative infectious diseases trainee community at Ohio State.