ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Apr 12 2023
APPLYING EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND RISK ANALYSES TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF NEW TECHNOLOGY-BASED INTERVENTIONS

My work has been concentrated at the intersection of biotechnology and health interventions. Throughout my career I have leveraged my biomedical and life sciences knowledge to address significant risks to the public health. My academic training is in biology, immunology, medical and environmental microbiology, and public health epidemiology.

I am focused on performing epidemiological and risk analyses to better understand targets for intervention, resource requirements, and methods for analyzing data to inform next steps developing and deploying technologies to operationalize environmental and public health interventions. It is my objective to bring a data-driven public health voice to industry and technology development.

My path in basic research began in immunology and virology in the Neil Cooper Lab at The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Immunology, during undergraduate study in biology at the University California San Diego. After my time at Gen-Probe working on HIV blood safety screening and molecular diagnostic tests, I began independent research in environmental microbiology and natural product chemistries at the Marine Biology Research Division of the UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

In 2010, after working on environmental biothreat detection for the US Intelligence Community and my subsequent global health fieldwork experiences in Malawi, I decided to move to Washington DC to focus on biosecurity and begin my graduate education in public health epidemiology in the Department of Global and Community Health at George Mason University.

As a result of my public health graduate studies and experience advancing genetically engineered technologies for public health, I recognized more enhanced risk analysis studies are required to successfully deploy interventions and manage risk while maintaining government regulatory support and building public trust.

Former Academic Research Institutions
  • George Mason University, Department of Global and Community Health | master of public health graduate studies in epidemiology (pending program completion)
  • UCSD Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Marine Biology Research Division | independent research: environmental and extremophilic microbiology natural products chemistries applications for molecular tools, medicines, and bioremediation
  • The Scripps Research Institute, Department of Immunology | immunology basic research focused on virology, cancer, and Alzheimer's disease during undergraduate studies
  • University of California San Diego, Department of Biology | undergraduate studies in biology

  • Current Academic and Research Focus Areas
  • Public health epidemiology | environmental and infectious disease epidemiology
  • Molecular epidemiology | genetic risk assessments for disease
  • Medical microbiology | molecular detection and fingerprinting techniques for outbreak and epidemic intelligence gathering
  • Risk analysis | risk analyses and risk management for technology-based public health interventions
  • Government regulation | policies surrounding integrated regulatory frameworks for biotechnology and genetic engineering

Big Picture Interests
  • Biosecurity programs leveraging chemical and biological environmental threat detection systems
  • Quantitative measurements for chemical and biological threat detection and sensor technologies
  • Epidemic intelligence collection systems
  • AI and emerging technologies in healthcare and biosecurity
  • Medical diagnostics and quantitative biomarker testing platforms
  • Water and air quality safety testing
  • Remediation and mitigation of environmental chemical contaminants of concern in soil and water [e.g., 1,4-dioxane, PFAS]
  • Environmental infectious disease vector control using genetically engineered insects versus insecticides and other technologies