Bio
My research interests span the areas of exposure assessment, wastewater surveillance, pathogen shedding kinetics, and infectious disease transmission. A common thread in my research is in understanding the human-environment interface with respect to infectious diseases. I design, develop, and evaluate statistical and mathematical models to support evidence-informed public health decision-making in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the United States. These model frameworks were packaged as open-source tools and deployed across the globe. Over the last decade, I have been involved in projects funded by NIH, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and the Rockefeller Foundation, on the aforementioned research areas for various infectious diseases. Half of these projects were in LMICs, where I have developed strong relationships with local partners. I enjoy working on team science (cross-disciplinary collaborations from diverse scientific fields) and contribute my analytical skills as a toolbox for real-world problems.
Areas of Interest
- Disease Surveillance
- Global Health
- Biostatistics
- Exposure Assessment
- Infectious Disease Dynamics
- Modeling
- Bayesian Analysis
Education
- PhD, Georgia State University
- MSPH, Emory University
- Bachelor, South China University of Technology
Affiliations
Current Activities:
Shedding Hub: The Shedding Hub collates data and statistical models for pathogen shedding in different human specimens, such as stool or sputum samples. Developing wastewater-based epidemiology into a quantitative, reliable epidemiological monitoring tool motivates the project.
Sentinel Wastewater Surveillance: I am exploring the potential use of sentinel upstream wastewater surveillance and collecting human behavior information related to their toilet usage, mobility, and social contacts.
In The News
