Education
PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 2000
BS, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1987
Overview
As the Director of Epidemiology for IVAC (International Vaccine Access Center), I focus on the technical analytical solutions to facilitate policy-driven research pertaining to the design, conduct and analysis of epidemiological studies, meta-analyses and clinical trials that evaluate vaccines and vaccine-preventable diseases.
Projects include: evaluating the impact of introducing pneumococcal conjugate vaccine into childhood national immunization programs on pneumococcal disease, including the indirect effects on adults; synthesizing evidence through meta-analytical and modeling approaches to estimate global disease burden, serotype distribution and vaccine impact globally for pneumococcal, Hib, meningococcal and pertussis disease among children and adults; evaluating impact of vaccine dosing schedule, age at immunization and product choice to inform WHO policy recommendations and country decision-making regarding vaccine introduction; determining the causes of pneumonia in a 7-country pneumonia case-control study (PERCH) in developing country settings to guide the development of new pneumonia vaccines and treatment algorithms; evaluating new diagnostic tools such as antigen-based blood tests and pneumococcal serotype-specific urine antigen tests to determine their sensitivity and specificity for detecting pneumococcal disease in pneumonia patients, and digital tools to assist in the standardization of clinical findings, such as digital auscultation and computer automated chest x-ray interpretation. I also work on collaborative efforts with other Departments and Institutions to develop new analytical tools, such as an analytical method for estimating pneumonia etiology, and direct VIEW-hub, a publicly available and interactive data visualization platform displaying vaccine introduction, coverage, access, impact, and disease burden data globally.
Honors and Awards
National Institutes of Health Merit Award (1999,1991)
Food and Drug Administration Commissioner’s Special Citation Group Award (1997)
U.S. DHHS Secretary’s Group Award for Distinguished Service (1996)
U.S. DHHS Special Achievement Award (1995,1991)