Disrupter: How Dr. Connie’s Team Eradicated Smallpox in India
WINNER GOLD MEDAL: 2017 Global Ebook Awards, Non-fiction, Inspirational.
WINNER: 2024 IndieReader Discovery Awards, Inspirational Category.
This is an inspiring story of a pioneering African American woman doctor fresh out of residency training. In 1975, Cornelia Davis, MD sought a way to give back for her life’s opportunities. Her bold choice would benefit millions of lives.
The World Health Organization hired Dr. Davis to work in its landmark smallpox eradication program. Connie traveled to India, where she scoured the countryside for the last remnants of the brutal, deadly disease. Connie didn’t allow entrenched sexism, or caste taboos to deter her from her fascinating mission. She tracked smallpox through the Thar Desert on camelback and across volatile Indo-Bangladeshi borders. She negotiated with smugglers and fakirs. She met Mother Theresa. She climbed to the base camp of Mount Everest. Finally, her symbolic search for Sitala Mata, the Hindu smallpox goddess, came to a positive conclusion. An international certification team declared smallpox eradicated in India.
To this day, smallpox is the only disease that’s been completely wiped out. Dr. Davis played a role in stopping a pestilence that’s dogged humanity for thousands of years. Searching for Sitala Mata is the story of how one brave woman’s simple desire to pay it forward had historic and positive ramifications worldwide.
Available in Kindle, Paperback, and Audiobook!
Risking Is Better Than Regretting
NOW AVAILABLE!
In this inspirational memoir, Connie looks back on her life and asks, “did I make a difference?” She
reveals the wisdom of being open to opportunities and where that led her. At the same time, Davis
acknowledges that risking can be dangerous, and it can be difficult to weigh the consequences and to
determine how much risk one can tolerate.
BOOK REVIEW from The International Review of Books
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“An underlying thread throughout is that one has to develop and trust their intuition.
If you can put yourself out there, move out of your comfort zone to
be open to new friends, it can lead to new adventures.
By sharing episodes and stories from her life, Connie inspires you to take calculated risks. And
although life doesn’t give too many second chances, it’s not too late, and there is still time!…”
FINALIST (Self-Help), Book Excellence Awards 2023
The Book Excellence Award 2023 has recognized
Cornelia E. Davis’ ‘Risking Is Better Than Regretting’ as a finalist for Self-Help Category,
cementing its position as an exceptional memoir that inspires and motivates readers.
THREE YEARS IN ETHIOPIA
How a Civil War and Epidemics Led Me to My Daughter
Sometimes there is
No Next Time, No Second Chance, No Time out.
Sometimes
It Is Now Or Never!
Amazon’s #1 BEST SELLER among New Releases in Eight categories!
IndieReader interviews Dr. Connie Davis
Three Years in Ethiopia: How a Civil War and Epidemics Led Me to my Daughter
received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Read the full interview HERE.
“The arrival of your book was highly disruptive to my schedule…I would rate it as one of the very best accounts of “life in the field” told with humor, compassion, understanding, frustration, elation, and satisfaction…
It is too interesting, too motivating to be consigned to just a few book shelves!”
D.A. Henderson, MD, MPH Director WHO Global Smallpox Program