Sarita  Shah

My research and public health work are closely interconnected and have focused on drug-resistant TB and TB/HIV co-infection for the past fifteen years in multiple high-burden settings, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya and Vietnam. Recent research has sought to describe optimal methods for TB screening in people with HIV, geographic spread of XDR TB, TB transmission in hospitals and households, use of existing and novel diagnostic assays in adults and children, and treatment outcomes of patients co-infected with HIV and MDR/XDR TB.

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, conduct case investigations, and prepare rapid epidemiologic analyses of surveillance data. In June 2020, I joined Dr. Allison Chamberlain and several Emory faculty as part of the leadership team for the Emory COVID-19 Response Collaborative (ECRC). 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 degree in Biology and Hispanic Studies from Johns Hopkins University and my MD degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Following this, I completed clinical training in Internal Medicine and a Masters in Public Health 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, International Research and Programs Branch, where I returned in 2012 as the Associate Chief for Science through 2019. 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. 

A complete list of my published work can be found here.