Laurel Bristow
Bio
With a background in infectious disease research and science communication, Laurel Bristow develops public-facing science education through social media at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public health—focusing on promoting and strengthening trust in public health information.
During the pandemic, Bristow’s prolific work in social media science communication helped bring accurate public health information to more than 400,000 followers on her Instagram channel. The combination of her candor, clear explanations, and expertise in infectious diseases turned Bristow into a trusted advisor to hundreds of thousands of people during the height of the pandemic. Because of her science communication prowess, she has been interviewed by NPR, CNN, Mother Jones, Vanity Fair, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves, and others.
Additionally, Bristow has worked in infectious disease for the last 10 years. After completing an MSc in the Control of Infectious Disease from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine she joined the San Francisco Department of Public Health, first working in HIV prevention and then transitioning to a position as the epidemiologist for the TB control program at San Francisco General Hospital.
She joined Emory in 2018 as a part of the Hope Clinic Vaccine Center, establishing inpatient research at Midtown Hospital, where she became heavily involved in the COVID-19 pandemic, coordinating multiple clinical trials for potential treatments, as well as long-term surveillance studies on patient outcomes. Bristow now serves as the associate director of audience development for Rollins and host of the weekly radio show and podcast, Health Wanted on WABE 90.1 (Atlanta's NPR station).