Team

My research interests span the areas of exposure assessment, wastewater surveillance, and infectious disease transmission. A common thread in my research is 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 in the United States.

More recently I have been developing AI-powered evidence synthesis: multi-agent systems that find the studies, extract the measurements, and check what was extracted against the source, with a human curator deciding what is accepted. Shedding Hub is the first application, and the approach is not specific to shedding — the same shape applies wherever the numbers worth having are locked in the text and figures of published papers.

I am more broadly interested in what AI agents can do for public health: not only synthesising the evidence, but putting it to work. EpiChat is one example — it turns a plain-language question into a validated epidemiological simulation, so a surveillance team or policy officer can explore a scenario without waiting on a modeller.

I am an Investigator of the Emory Center for Infectious Disease Modeling & Analytics and Training Hub (CIDMATH) and a Core Investigator at the Center for Global Safe Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (CGSW).

I am also the founder of GrantOtter.

I develop affordable, equitable public health monitoring solutions that impose a minimal burden on the population. My research connects models with complex, often messy real-world datasets, such as data not originally intended for research purposes. I am particularly interested in open and reproducible science based on data that adheres to the principle of privacy by design—without compromising the insights we can glean.

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at Imperial College London, Staff Research Scientist at Spotify, and Principal Research Scientist at Sonalytic. I received my PhD from Imperial College London under the supervision of Nick S. Jones and Master of Physics from the University of Oxford.

Marina is the CIDMATH Project Manager and supports logistic and regulatory needs of the Shedding Hub. She received her Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology from the Rollins School of Public Health and continues her education at Rollins as a Doctor of Public Health student in Implementation and Evaluation Sciences. Her interests lie in program management, disease surveillance and infection control.

Youwei, originally from Suzhou, China, completed her graduate degree in Biostatistics at Emory University and now supports the project as a research assistant. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Financial Mathematics from the Department of Mathematics and Physics. Her interests include data science and machine learning, where she is driven by a passion for applying analytical techniques to solve complex problems.

Fiona is originally from Beijing, China, and is a first-year PhD student in the Population Biology, Ecology, and Evolution graduate program at Emory University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Quantitative Sciences and Biology from Emory University.

Haisu is a third-year PhD student in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health at Emory University, where he also earned his MS in Epidemiology. His research focuses primarily on environmental epidemiology, with previous work exploring the health impacts of air pollution and extreme heat. He also wants to gain more experience in different statistical methods and data processing techniques.

Annie is currently a master’s student in the Epidemiology program at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. She earned her Bachelor’s in Health Studies and Statistical Sciences from the University of Toronto. Her academic and research interests focus on statistical analysis in public health, with experience in epidemiological research, data visualization, and applied health data science. She is particularly interested in leveraging quantitative methods to inform healthcare decision-making and improve population health outcomes.