Member Insight

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? It was a very roundabout journey. I had an undergraduate degree in psychology but couldn’t jump straight into a graduate program for financial reasons. I spent several years working in bars, nightclubs, and non-profits before landing a job as a research assistant with a fantastic group doing work in pediatric palliative care. This brought me into a really exciting interdisciplinary space with clinicians, nurses, social workers, and (you guessed it!) epidemiologists. As soon as I heard the phrase “social determinants of health,” I was sold. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? I think this is an opportune moment to capitalize on the pandemic-induced interest in our field, for better or for worse, and think more about how to effectively equip students with essential skills, translate findings, and optimize bridges between disciplines. Do you have any pets? I have an enormous black cat named Myers (after Michael Myers). I also have a child, who is sort of like a pet but not named after a horror icon. Missed opportunity. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? I initially joined SER because […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I first learned about epidemiology in an undergraduate biology course called ‘Insects and our Health’ when the instructor brought in a former EIS officer to talk about outbreak investigation. From the description, I thought it was the perfect mix of biology, math, and medicine and was convinced that I needed to move to Atlanta and prepare for a future career at the CDC. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? I never thought I would be saying this, but now that medical research has been made into a matter of political ideology and a form of political allegiance, I think we are going to encounter many obstacles in the near term. The importance of science communication and messaging cannot be underscored. Do you have any pets? Yes – two 5-year old Labrador Retrievers, Grant and Sherman. They keep me active and are the best office mates. If you can’t tell from my photo, I take being a dog mom seriously and with a great sense of humor. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? I was introduced to SER (and SPER) […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? After my undergraduate degree, I worked in a local public health department as a health promoter. While I enjoyed interacting with members of the community, I found that there was never time between falls prevention seminars, active transportation meetings, and flu shot campaigns to consider the evidence. Particularly in small regions, I saw that public health practitioners often lacked access to the resources and time to implement evidence-based practice. I decided to do my MSc in epidemiology to gain skills in understanding the science underlying public health. It wasn’t a huge leap from public health practice to epidemiology, and I quickly fell in love with psychiatric epidemiology. I have been enormously privileged to study and work alongside inspirational researchers in Canada, the UK, Sweden, and more. I am thrilled that I have found a career where I get to ask questions, read widely, and make beautiful charts and graphs. What could be better? What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? Epidemiologists will undoubtedly face interesting and challenging questions in the coming years. I expect that epidemiologists will need to grapple with the complex ways […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I was working as a HIV doctor in Nigeria, in a rural area with HIV prevalence of 10%, where the epidemic was primarily driven by mother to child transmission of the virus. Through a combination of targeted, data driven public healthcare and improved community participation in healthcare, my team and I saw HIV prevalence in the community drop from 10% to 4.7% within 4 years and massive improvement in the overall health of the community. This was the start of my journey in public health and epidemiology, and an interest in all the ways data could be used to address health inequities and improve the health of populations. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? The public’s distrust of all things public health, and a lack of understanding of what epidemiology is, and how our processes work Do you have any pets? No pets now, unfortunately. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? I love the sense of community and oneness SER fosters among its members, as well as the opportunities provided for growth as an epidemiologist. What advice do you […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I was raised in a family that believed in careers of civil service, so I always knew I wanted a career where I could prompt change that would positively impact people’s lives. Prior to college, I began working in an HIV vaccine laboratory and believed my research path would be biomedical. However, during my first year in college, I took an elective “Foundations of Public Health” course that ignited my passion in public health and prompted me to declare my major as Community Health with a focus on socially marginalized populations. In doing so, I quickly found that shifting my lens from individual- to population-level health outcomes better aligned with how I understood the world and health inequities. Part of the course series was an Introduction to Epidemiology course. I was drawn to epidemiology’s multidisciplinary qualities, investigative nature, and quantitative core and also how it is underpinned with social justice goals and missions. Once I started to imagine the health and social impact I could have, I was hooked! What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? In light of the pandemic, there has been […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I had always been interested in understanding the multi-factorial causes of disease for the purpose of prevention. So epidemiology appealed to me because it was a fantastic tool to help us understand the interlinks between various exposures, be it chemical, psychosocial, or community-based structures. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? I think trust in the public health system has been impacted by the COVID-19 response. There were plenty of inconsistent and confusing messages worldwide that did not factor in human behavior, and it will take a lot of effort and effective communication strategies to gain trust again. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? I wanted to join a society of epidemiologists who were at the cutting edge of science and methodology. I was also impressed by the strong researchers in SER who were committed to breaking down racist structures by defining and measuring them using epidemiological tools. What advice do you give students who want to become epidemiologists? To be open to interdisciplinary research and read studies outside their own specialties. What is something that not many people know […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? After college, I worked for an educational and support non-profit that provided resources to Latinx and African American survivors of breast cancer. Part of my job was reading current findings in the literature and conveying them to a lay audience. This exposed me to the kind of studies and work that epidemiologists do. I didn’t even know about the field before then! It seemed like a career path where I could focus on social justice and also lean on my analytic strengths. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? The pandemic a really thrust epidemiology into the public discourse. This has coincided with growing distrust of public institutions and propagation of misinformation by some. Clear and compelling communication has always been a challenge and now more than ever, if we want to hold the public’s trust in order to improve public health, we will have to contend with this. Do you have any pets? No, but I have two boys and they are covered in dirt, eat things off the floor, are not fully potty trained. Why did you join SER? What keeps you […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? In Brazil, the health system is majority public and good. I thought that started when my mom was elected as a Chair of the Health Community Board of our neighborhood. From that, my mother began to participate in the decisions about the health system for our neighborhood, vaccination, health care for the elderly, etc. Thus, it sparked a flame to study epidemiology to understand our Society. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? Ow, this is a tricky question. In general, the probability of starting another pandemic. However, in my research area city environment is not prepared to stimulate active commuting, e.g., walking and cycling, and we have to improve these behaviors in our cities. On the other hand, here in the US, the health system should be public and paid for by the government, such as in Brazil, the UK, and other countries. Do you have any pets? Yes, I have 3 Border Collies. Duke, The Big Brother, 6 years old. Indy, The Bossy Sister (I rescued her in the middle of the 1 st pandemic year) 8 years old; and Tica, The […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? I was unfamiliar with epidemiology or any public health until after I completed my undergraduate degree. I didn’t know anyone with a career in those fields. I was working in a microbiology lab and we were trying to understand why a certain strain of Campylobacter had become ubiquitous in our sheep abortion samples (Campylobacter can cause sheep abortions).  We had sequenced the genome and its sequence wasn’t particularly different from our lab strain. I kept asking my boss about what we knew about the sheep farms, the conditions of the sheep pens, and where the sheep had come from, and he kept telling me, “We don’t study that; that’s an epidemiology question”, and I thought that might be what I should study. At a conference, I made sure to attend talks given by researchers in public health and epidemiology and was fascinated by their work. This inspired me to pursue an MPH and then a PhD in Epidemiology. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? Over the past two years, we’ve been thrust into the spotlight and heavily criticized regarding recommended responses to the […]

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist? -I was headed towards a bench science career in Environmental Health Sciences. Somehow I started dabbling with regression techniques for exposure assessment, and found that I enjoyed it quite a bit. I took it entirely too far, so I didn’t have much of a choice: I had to become an epidemiologist. What do you see as the biggest obstacle facing epidemiologists in the next five years? -For academic epidemiologists, probably funding opportunities. It seems to get tighter every year, and there are many more players on the field. It’s great to have so many people in epidemiology, but NIH’s funding structure needs some dramatic reconsideration to support them. Do you have any pets? -No, and I hope to keep it that way, despite my childrens’ request for a cat. Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back? -It’s nice to stay in touch with fellow researchers, especially colleagues who I trained with. There’s also always something new to learn, and SER and the annual conference are a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of the field. What advice do you give students who want to become epidemiologists? […]