Sarita Shah
Associate Professor
Faculty, Global Health
Jointly Appointed, Epidemiology
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, 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.
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
Courses Taught
- GH 500: Critical Issues in Glob.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