Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Christine Marie George, PhD, partners with communities to design and evaluate water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to promote health equity and prevent infections globally.
Contact Info
615 N. Wolfe Street, Room E5535
Baltimore
Maryland
21205
US
Research Interests
Keywords: diarrheal disease; water; sanitation; hygiene; interventions; cholera; shigellosis; arsenic; uranium; environmental surveillance; community capacity building; mobile health; COVID; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19
Experiences & Accomplishments
Education
PhD
Columbia University
2012
Overview
Dr. George is an infectious disease epidemiologist and environmental engineer. Her career focuses on implementing interdisciplinary approaches that promote health equity to solve complex environmental health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and other low resource settings globally. Dr. George has 16 years of experience conducting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) studies domestically and internationally, including directing nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of community and health facility-based WASH interventions. Her interdisciplinary research portfolio spans infectious disease and environmental epidemiology, genomics to investigate disease outbreaks, WASH RCTs, environmental engineering to evaluate water filtration technologies, and formative research driven by health behavior theory for the design and implementation of WASH behavioral interventions. Through employing these methods, Dr. George has partnered with communities to design effective WASH interventions to reduce diarrheal diseases and improve child growth in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and reduce arsenic exposure in Bangladesh and in partnership with American Indian communities. Dr. George’s current research activities include directing seven WASH RCTs, and three cohort studies conducted in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in partnership with American Indian Nations.
REGIONAL EXPERIENCE
North America: Navajo Nation and Strong Heart Study Communities in North and South Dakota; West Africa: Ghana, Guinea, Liberia; Central Africa: Democratic Republic of the Congo; East Africa: Tanzania; South Asia: Bangladesh; Latin America: Bolivia, Peru, Mexico
REGIONAL EXPERIENCE
North America: Navajo Nation and Strong Heart Study Communities in North and South Dakota; West Africa: Ghana, Guinea, Liberia; Central Africa: Democratic Republic of the Congo; East Africa: Tanzania; South Asia: Bangladesh; Latin America: Bolivia, Peru, Mexico
Honors & Awards
2021: Excellence in Teaching Award;
2017: Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award;
2014: Delta Omega Society of Public Health, Alpha Chapter;
2012: Award for Excellence in Global Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health;
2009-2011: Fulbright Fellowship;
2007-2009: Environmental Protection Agency Star Fellowship;
2017: Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award;
2014: Delta Omega Society of Public Health, Alpha Chapter;
2012: Award for Excellence in Global Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health;
2009-2011: Fulbright Fellowship;
2007-2009: Environmental Protection Agency Star Fellowship;
Select Publications
Dr. George has made significant contributions to public health practice through the development of effective water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions delivered to millions globally.
- George CM, Monira S, Zohura F, Thomas ED, Hasan MT, Parvin T, Hasan K, Rashid MU, Papri N, Islam A, Rahman Z, Rafique R, Islam Bhuyian MS, Saxton R, Labrique A, Alland K, Barman I, Jubyda FT, Afroze F, Sultana M, Johura FT, Khan MAH, Tahmina S, Munmun F, Sack DA, Perin J, Alam M. Effects of a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Mobile Health Program on Diarrhea and Child Growth in Bangladesh: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial of the Cholera Hospital-based Intervention for 7 Days (CHoBI7) Mobile Health Program. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021 Nov 2;73(9):e2560-e2568. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa754. PMID: 32761174
- Kuhl J, Bisimwa L, Thomas ED, Williams C, Ntakirutimana J, Coglianese N, Bauler S, François R, Sanvura P, Bisimwa JC, Mirindi P, George CM. Formative research for the development of baby water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions for young children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (REDUCE program). BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 1;21(1):427. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10246-5. PMID: 33648466
- Thomas ED, Gittelsohn J, Yracheta J, Powers M, O'Leary M, Harvey DE, Red Cloud R, Best LG, Black Bear A, Navas-Acien A, George CM. The Strong Heart Water Study: Informing and designing a multi-level intervention to reduce arsenic exposure among private well users in Great Plains Indian Nations. Science of the Total Environment. 2019 Feb 10;650(Pt 2):3120-3133. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.204. PMID: 30373089
- George CM, Monira S, Sack DA, Rashid MU, Saif-Ur-Rahman KM, Mahmud T, Rahman Z, Mustafiz M, Bhuyian SI, Winch PJ, Leontsini E, Perin J, Begum F, Zohura F, Biswas S, Parvin T, Zhang X, Jung D, Sack RB, Alam M. Randomized Controlled Trial of Hospital-Based Hygiene and Water Treatment Intervention (CHoBI7) to Reduce Cholera. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2016 Feb;22(2):233-41. doi: 10.3201/eid2202.151175. PMID: 26811968
- George CM, Factor Litvak P, Levy D, Islam T, Ahmed KM, Moon-Howard J, Liu X, Tarozzi T, van Geen A, Graziano JH. A Cluster-based Randomized Controlled Trial Promoting Community Participation in Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh. Environ Health. 2012 Jun 19;11(1):41. PMID: 22713347
Projects
A Hospital-Based Handwashing with Soap and Water Treatment Intervention to Reduce Cholera Among Household Contacts of Cholera Cases (CHoBI7): A Randomized Controlled Trial
Identifying Environmental Transmission Routes for Shigellosis in Rural Settings using Pulsed-field Gel Electrophoresis
An Evaluation of Arsenic Exposure as a Risk Factor for Pneumonia in Children in Rural Bangladesh
Evaluation of a Baby WASH Intervention to Reduce Environmental Enteropathy and Impaired Growth in Young Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Risk Factors for Environmental Enteropathy and Impaired Growth in Children in Rural Bangladesh
Identifying Transmission Routes for Cholera Among Household Contact of Cases
Participatory Interventions to Reduce Arsenic Exposure in American Indian Communities
Evidence Based Targeted Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Interventions to Reduce Cholera in Hotspots in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
A Evaluation of Evidence-Based Approaches to Promote Hygiene Behaviors in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo to Reduce SARS-CoV-2 Transmission