Public Health and Clinical Microbiology
CeZAP Thematic Group
Public health and clinical microbiology are key areas for the prevention, identification, surveillance, and control of infectious diseases. A variety of molecular, biochemical, engineering, community-engaged, epidemiological, computational, nanotechnological, and sociological approaches are employed to improve our quality of life, prevent hazards, and keep people healthy.
Faculty in the CeZAP Public Health and Clinical Microbiology thematic area at Virginia Tech collectively encompass a very broad array of research, including clinical, and public health practice areas dedicated to the protection of human, animal, and environmental health. Topic areas include investigating human-animal-environment-pathogen interactions, analyzing drinking water and sanitation systems, examining environmental and pathogen variability, developing new antimicrobials and drug delivery systems, investigating microbial ecology and evolution in natural settings and food ecosystems, assessing processes contributing to disease emergence and distribution, investigating disease pathogenesis and pathogen spread through populations and geographical areas, engineering biosensors and living materials, developing novel approaches for pathogen detection and diagnostics, educating the public about hazard risks and protection methods, and evaluating health behaviors and health systems, with the goal of identifying pathogen and host determinants that pose a threat to human and animal health and finding better ways to improve health in the region, the state, and globally.
Highlight Research relating to the specific thematic area:
- Sophie Wenzel works on promoting adult vaccination in rural underserved areas (a practice-based project) and evaluating a novel community engagement method to address the opioid epidemic (a community-engaged, practice-based research project).
- Mengzi Zhang focuses on the health of displaced populations: Assess and develop tailored interventions to improve refugees’ health and healthcare accessibility. Access to healthcare: Measure and evaluate geospatial accessibility to healthcare facilities through different modes of transportation.
- Alasdair Cohen and Leigh-Anne Krometis conduct research on drinking water (contamination, treatment, and supply), sanitation, and environmental health in lower-income and rural areas, with a focus on developing and improving safe water programs
