Faculty

Brown, Carl
Chaves, Luis
Gillespie, Tom
Gunderson, Lance
Hall, Anne
Hickcox, Woody
Kitron, Uriel
Majors, Kristan
Martin, Tony
Page, Michael
Prokopec, Gonzalo Vazquez
Ruttan, Lore
Seares, Jessica
Size, William
Spears, Ellen
Wegner, John
Wilson, Larry
Yandle, Tracy

Staff

Jerald Byrd (Jerry)
Carolyn Keogh (Carrie)

Uriel Kitron Professor and Chair, Environmental Studies E511 Math and Science Center telephone 404-727-4253 fax 404-727-4448 ukitron@emory.edu B.Sc., Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel M.P.H., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara

My research and teaching programs center around the eco-epidemiology of infectious diseases, with an emphasis on tropical and emerging diseases and environmental risk factors. In our global health research we emphasize anthropogenic changes, including issues of climate, urbanization, agricultural practices and conservation.

For diseases such as dengue, Chagas disease, malaria, schistosomiasis and West Nile virus my group studies the ecology of the insect vectors and the mammalian reservoir hosts incorporating a strong field component (trapping mammals, collecting insects, identifying environmental features), spatial analysis, and laboratory work.

We apply tools such as geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing to gather and manage environmental data that can explain the spatial distribution of disease and vectors, and assess risk of transmission. Following quantitative spatial analysis, maps and models can then be produced to target further research efforts, as well as in support of surveillance and control efforts by public health agencies.

Current research efforts funded by NIH, NSF and CDC include large-scale collaborative studies international studies of malaria and schistosomiasis in Kenya, Chagas disease in Argentina and dengue in Peru, and of West Nile virus and Lyme disease in the US.

Teaching interests include Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Spatial Epidemiology and ecological parasitology. As part of our training program we also conduct GIS workshops for researchers, public health practitioners and students. Interest in application and communication of scientific information is manifested in teaching a course, Epidemiology and the Media, and in work with the public and with state, national and international public health agencies.

Selected Recent Publications

2005 Chadee, D.D., F.L.R. Williams and U.D. Kitron. Impact of vector control on a dengue
fever in Trinidad, West Indies in 1998. Tropical Medicine and Int’l Health 8:748-756.

2005 Vazquez-Prokopec GM, Cecere MC, , Gurtler RE, Canale DM, Kitron U,. Spatio-
temporal patterns of reinfestation by Triatoma guasayana (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) in a
rural community of northwestern Argentina. J Medical Entomology 42: 571-580.

2006 Cortinas MR & U Kitron. County-level surveillance of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus
virginianus) infestation by Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor albipictus (Acari:
Ixodidae) along the Illinois River. J Med Entomol. 43: 810-819.

2006 Clennon JA, Mungai P, Muchiri EM, King CH and U Kitron. Spatial and temporal variations in local transmission of Schistosoma haematobium in Msambweni, Kenya. Am. J. Trop Med Hyg. 75: 1034-41.

2006 Kitron U, Clennon JA, Cecere MC, Gürtler RE, King CH, Vázquez-Prokopec G. Upscale or downscale: applications of fine scale remotely sensed data to Chagas disease in Argentina and schistosomiasis in Kenya. Geospatial Health, 1: 49-58.

2006 Cecere MC, Vazquez-Prokopec G, Gurtler R, Kitron U. Sources of reinfestation for
Chagas disease vector, Triatoma infestans, Argentina. EID, 12: 1096-1102.

2007 Clennon JA, , Muchiri EM, King CH and U Kitron. Hydrological modeling of snail
dispersal patterns in Msambweni, Kenya and potential resurgence of Schistosoma
haematobium transmission. Parasitology 134:683-93.

2007 Bertolotti L, Kitron U, Goldberg TL. Diversity and evolution of West Nile virus in Illinois and the United States, 2002-2005. Virology 360: 143-9.

2007 Ruiz MO, Walker ED, Foster ES, Haramis LD, Kitron UD. Association of West Nile virus illness and urban landscapes in Chicago and Detroit. Int J Health Geogr. 6:1-11.

2007 Gürtler RE,1, Kitron U, Cecere MC, Segura EL, Cohen JE. Sustainable vector control and management of Chagas disease in the Gran Chaco, Argentina. PNAS 104:16194-9.