Sarita Shah
Associate Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology
Associate Professor
Faculty, Epidemiology
Jointly Appointed, Global Health

My research and public health work have focused on drug-resistant TB and TB/HIV co-infection for the past fifteen years in multiple high-burden settings throughout sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Recent research has described TB screening in people with HIV, geographic spread of XDR TB, TB transmission, and treatment of patients co-infected with HIV and MDR/XDR TB. As Co-director of the Clinical & Population Sciences Core for the Emory/Georgia TB Center, I work with partners across Emory, University of Georgia, metro Atlanta, and internationally to expand TB research and training opportunities.
From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have worked with the Fulton County Board of Health and Georgia Department of Public Health to support diagnostic testing, case investigations, and rapid epidemiologic analyses of surveillance data. I am part of the leadership team for the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative (ECRC) that is led by Dr. Allison Chamberlain. The mission of the ECRC is to bring together Rollins faculty, staff and students to support the Georgia Department of Public Health's COVID-19 response through partnerships with local health departments. Rollins students have been an integral part of this effort and have applied their training to the COVID-19 response.
I received my undergraduate and MD degree from Johns Hopkins University, followed by clinical training in Internal Medicine and a MPH at Columbia University's New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Mailman School of Public Health. From 2004-2006, I was an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Division of TB Elimination, where I returned from 2012-2020 as the Associate Chief for Science. I am also a clinical care provider for people living with HIV in the United States, initially in the Bronx, NY, and currently at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, GA.
My research and public health work have been covered by the New York Times, National Public Radio, CNN, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and others. A complete list of my published work can be found here.
Contact Information
1518 CLIFTON RD
ATLANTA , GA
1518002
Phone: (404) 727-7326
Fax: (404) 727-4590
Email: sarita.shah@emory.edu
Areas of Interest
- Epidemiology
- Global Health
- Infectious Disease
- Public Health Practice
Education
- BA 1996, Johns Hopkins University
- MD 2000, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
- MPH 2004, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Affiliations & Activities
Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1ZkcT7n65lvQo/bibliography/public/
Publications
- Weyenga H, Karanja M, Katana AK, Ng’ang’a LW, Sirengo M, Ondondo RO, Onyango E, Wambugu C, Masini E, Ngugi EW, Shah NS, Pathmanathan I, Maloney S, De Cock KM, 2021, Can Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy among People Living with HIV be Scaled up Rapidly? Lessons Learned in Kenya, 2014-2018, Int J Tuberc Lung Dis, 21, 367-372
- Labgold K, Hamid S, Shah S, Gandhi NR, Chamberlain A, Khan F, Khan S, Smith S, Williams S, Lash TL, Collin LJ, 2021, Estimating the Unknown: Greater Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Burden After Accounting for Missing Race and Ethnicity Data, Epidemiology, 32, 157-161
- Yoon JC, Prieto J, Shah NS, Clark J, Chamberlain A, Holland DP, 2021, Implementation of close contact elicitation at time of COVID-19 testing – Atlanta, GA, October-November 2020, J Public Health , May,
- Velen K, Podewils LJ, Shah NS, Lewis J, Dinake T, Churchyard G, Reichler M, Charalambous S, 2021, Performance of GeneXpert MTB/RIF for diagnosing tuberculosis among symptomatic household contacts of source TB cases in South Africa, Open Forum Infect Dis, ,
- Baliashvili D, Gandhi NR, Kim S, Hughes M, Mave V, Mendoza-Ticona A, Narunsky K, Poongulali S, Badal-Faesen S, Upton C, Naini L, Smith E, Gupta A, Churchyard G, Swindells S, Hesseling A, Shah NS for ACTG A5300/IMPAACT I2003 PHOENIx Feasibility study team, 2021, Resistance to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection among household contacts of patients with multidrug-resistant tuberculosis from eight countries, Clin Infect Dis, ,
- Telford CT, Bystrom C, Fox T, Holland D, Wiggins-Benn S, Mandani A, McCloud M, Shah NS, 2020, Assessment of Infection Prevention and Control Protocols, Procedures, and Implementation in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Twenty Long-term Care Facilities in Fulton County, Georgia, J Am Geriatric Soc , ,
- Telford CT, Onwubiko U, Holland DP, Turner K, Prieto J, Smith S, Yoon J, Brown W, Chamberlain A, Gandhi N, Khan S, Williams S, Khan F, Shah NS, 2020, Preventing COVID-19 Outbreaks in Long-Term Care Facilities Through Preemptive Testing of Residents and Staff Members — Fulton County, Georgia, March–May 2020, MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 69, 1296-1299
- Nelson KN, Jenness SM, Mathema B, Lopman BA, Auld SC, Shah NS, Brust JCM, Ismail N, Omar SV, Brown TS, Allana S, Campbell A, Moodley P, Mlisana K, Gandhi NR., 2020, Social Mixing and Clinical Features Linked With Transmission in a Network of Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis Cases in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. , Clin Infect Dis ., 70, 2396-240
- Smith JP, Gandhi NR, Shah NS, Mlisana K, Moodley P, Johnson BA, Allana S, Campbell A, Nelson KN, Master I, Brust JCM., 2020, The Impact of Concurrent Antiretroviral Therapy and MDR-TB Treatment on Adverse Events. , J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr , 83, 47-55
- Suryavanshi N, Murrill M, Gupta A, Hughes M, Hesseling A, Kim S, Naini L, Jones L, Smith B, Gupte N, Dawson R, Mave V, Meshram S, Mendoza-Ticona A, Sanchez J, Kumarasamy N, Comins K, Conradie F, Shenje J, Nerette Fontain S, Garcia-Prats A, Asmelash A, Nedsuwan S, Mohapi L, Lalloo U, Cristina Garcia Ferreira A, Okeyo E, Swindells S, Churchyard G, Shah NS., 2020, Willingness to Take Multidrug-resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) Preventive Therapy Among Adult and Adolescent Household Contacts of MDR-TB Index Cases: An International Multisite Cross-sectional Study. , Clin Infect Dis , 70, 436-445
- Peterson ML, Gandhi NR, Clennon J, Nelson KN, Morris N, Ismail N, Allana S, Campbell A, Brust JCM, Auld SC, Mathema B, Mlisana K, Moodley P, Shah NS, 2019, Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis 'hotspots' and sociodemographic associations in Durban, South Africa., Int J Tuberc Lung Dis, 23, 720-727
- Shah NS, Auld SC, Brust JC, Mathema B, Ismail N, Moodley P, Mlisana K, Allana S, Campbell A, Mthiyane T, Morris N, Mpangase P, van der Meulen H, Omar SV, Brown TS, Narechania A, Shaskina E, Kapwata T, Kreiswirth B, Gandhi NR, 2017, Transmission of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in South Africa. , N Engl J Med , 376, 243-253