ACADEMIC RESEARCH

Apr 12 2023
APPLYING EPIDEMIOLOGY AND RISK ANALYSES TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF TECHNOLOGY 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.

I am interested in opportunities to help advance technology development for environmental, biosecurity, and health interventions by providing strategic and technical writing support for submissions to win non-dilutive funding from private sector and government funders.

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 screening and molecular 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.

Some years later, 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.

Following my 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.

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 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 Fields of Study
  • Molecular epidemiology
  • Environmental and medical microbiology
  • Risk analysis

Topics of Interest
  • Environmental health and biosecurity
  • New technology risk analysis and risk management
  • Chemical and biological threat sensor technologies for detection and quantitative measurements
  • Medical diagnostics and quantitative neutralizing antibody measurements
  • Water and air quality measurements
  • Remediation and mitigation of environmental chemical contaminants of concern in soil and water [e.g., 1,4-dioxane, PFAS]
  • Infectious disease vector control using genetically engineered insects versus insecticides and other technologies