I am a junior investigator in the field of infectious disease epidemiology, and also a practicing general internist.  My interdisciplinary research lies at the nexus of infectious disease modeling, health economics, operational and implementation science, and classical epidemiology.  My primary interests are:

(1) Modeling of TB and TB/HIV: My greatest research passion is evaluating the implementation and scale-up of TB and HIV control interventions, especially diagnostic and case-finding strategies.  I combine methods from traditional epidemiology, cost-effectiveness analysis, and epidemic modeling with the aim of answering questions of relevance to patients and policy-makers.  I serve on the steering committee of the Gates Foundation-funded TB-Modeling and Analysis Consortium (TB-MAC) and direct two NIH-funded projects related to modeling the scale-up of TB diagnostic tests.  I currently work with collaborators on projects based in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, India, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, and the United States. 

(2) Translational epidemiology: I have great interest in creating modeling frameworks that allow decision-makers to translate epidemiological data into effective decisions.  I welcome collaboration from researchers, clinicians, or students having expertise in any field, who hope to create models to translate epidemiological data into meaningful policy, practical, or clinical decisions.

(3) Clinical epidemiology and patient-important outcomes: I am interested in evaluating outcomes of relevance to patients, including quality and duration of life.  Specifically, I work with a cohort study of ICU survivors in Baltimore to investigate long-term outcomes, including strength and quality of life, after critical illness.  I feel strongly about creating closer ties between the worlds of clinical practice and epidemiology.

(4) Teaching and mentorship:  These are essential, and often-undervalued, skills in the field of epidemiology.  If our profession is to continue its record of success, I firmly believe that we need to train future leaders how to teach and mentor others, and also to do our best to serve as role models in that regard.

1. C-reactive protein (CRP), interferon gamma-inducible protein 10 (IP-10), and lipopolysaccharide (LPS ) are associated with risk of tuberculosis after initiation of antiretroviral therapy in resource-limited settings.; PLoS One
2. Costs and Consequences of Using Interferon-γ Release Assays for the Diagnosis of Active Tuberculosis ; PubMed - NCBI
3. Reducing relapse in tuberculosis treatment: is it time to reassess WHO treatment guidelines? ; The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 June 2015, pp. 624-624(1)
4. Performance of a Novel Algorithm Using Automated Digital Microscopy for Diagnosing Tuberculosis. ; Am J Respir Crit Care Med, ATS Journals
5. Screening for tuberculosis with Xpert MTB/RIF versus fluorescent microscopy among adults newly diagnosed with HIV in rural Malawi: a cluster randomized trial (CHEPETSA); Clin Infect Dis
6. Tuberculosis Incidence Among Populations at High Risk in California, Florida, New York, and Texas, 2011-2015; Am J Public Health
7. What if they don’t have tuberculosis? The consequences and trade-offs involved in false-positive diagnoses of tuberculosis; Clin Infect Dis
8. Post-2015 tuberculosis strategies in a pre-2015 world. ; The International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Volume 17, Number 2, 1 February 2013, pp. 143-143(1)
9. Projected population-wide impact of antiretroviral therapy-linked isoniazid preventive therapy in a high-burden setting; AIDS
10. Cost-effectiveness of Preventive Therapy for Tuberculosis With Isoniazid and Rifapentine Versus Isoniazid Alone in High-Burden Settings; Clin Infect Dis
11. The Importance of Heterogeneity to the Epidemiology of Tuberculosis ; Clin Infect Dis
12. Yield of household contact tracing for tuberculosis in rural South Africa ; BMC Infect Dis
13. Modelling the impact of social protection on tuberculosis: the S-PROTECT project ; BMC Public Health
14. Would pan-tuberculosis treatment regimens be cost-effective? ; Lancet Respir Med

• A Blueprint for Success: Understanding the epidemic of TB in New York City
• A randomized trial of preventive therapy for pediatric MDR TB contacts
• A smoking cessation trial in HIV/AIDS patients in South Africa
• A randomized trial of preventive therapy for adult MDR TB contacts
• Assessing the social value of novel regimens for MDR TB
• Comparative implementation and cost-effectiveness of active TB case finding in rural South Africa
• Evaluating an automated system for fluorescence microscopy with digital signature mapping
• FlexDx-TB: A flexible, user-friendly model of TB diagnostics
• MDR TB treatment as prevention: modeling the impact of improved MDR treatment in Vietnam
• mHealth for improved TB contact investigation in Uganda
• Modeling the impact of novel TB drug regimens and drug susceptibility tests
• Modeling the impact of spatially targeted TB vaccines
• Modeling the impact of spatially targeted TB vaccines
• Modeling to improve TB decision-making in the United States
• Population-level impact of isoniazid preventive therapy in South Africa
• Scale-up and implementation of TB diagnostics including Xpert in Uganda
• TB Modeling and Analysis Consortium
• Understanding the costs and cost-effectiveness of TB treatment in Bangladesh
• Understanding the impact of combined TB and HIV diagnosis in diverse epidemics
• TB Modeling and Analysis Consortium (TB MAC)
• Decentralized testing for tuberculosis with on-site Xpert Ultra: the XPEL TB trial
• Comparative Effectiveness/Implementation of TB Case Finding in Rural South Africa: The Kharitode Trial
• A Comprehensive Snapshot of Tuberculosis Transmission in an Urban Ugandan Community: The STOMP TB study
• Enhancing models of HIV,viral hepatitis, STI’s and tuberculosis to inform and improve infectious disease control in the United States
• Human-centered Design and Communities of Practice to Improve Delivery of Home-based TB Contact Investigation in Uganda
• Options for Patient-Centered Delivery of Short-Course Preventive Therapy for Tuberculosis: The 3HP Options Trial