I am Professor of Epidemiology with primary appointment in the Department of Epidemiology and an affiliated appointment in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, where my wet lab is located. I direct the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics, a center of excellence funded by the MIDAS program of NIH/NIGMS. I am also the Associate Director of the Interdisciplinary Concentration in Infectious Disease Epidemiology.

Dr. Caroline Buckee joined Harvard School of Public Health in the summer of 2010 as an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, and was promoted to Professor in 2021. From 2013-2023, Dr. Buckee was the Associate Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics. She co-founded and co-directs Crisis Ready (crisisready.io), a joint platform between Harvard’s Data Science Initiative (HDSI) and Direct Relief, to support data-driven responses to public health emergencies and disasters. Dr. Buckee co-leads the South Asia Climate and Health Research Cluster supported by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability.

Dr. Buckee’s research interests span infectious disease epidemiology and ecology – with a focus on vector borne diseases including malaria and dengue – human mobility and the impact of labor migration on the spread of epidemics, and the intersection of climate risks and human health and well-being. Dr. Buckee’s group actively supports National Malaria Control Programs in the global south to improve surveillance and analytical approaches to targeting interventions. Her group has several projects focusing on the impact of gold-mining on malaria transmission and control in the Amazon region in South America. In India, Dr. Buckee’s group is working with communities to understand the impact of extreme heat on poor working women, and to develop community-led intervention research.

Dr. Bill Hanage is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. His research and teaching focus on the epidemiology of infectious disease and the evolution of infectious agents. He received his PhD from Imperial College London. Dr Hanage has made seminal contributions to the study of diverse pathogens, both bacteria and viruses, and has a special interest in evolution in response to interventions such as vaccination or antimicrobials. His awards include the Fleming Prize from the Microbiology Society and a young investigator award from the American Society for Microbiology. He has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters and is a regular contributor to popular media aiming to improve public understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and other infectious diseases.

Megan Murray is an epidemiologist and an infectious disease physician with over 25 years of experience studying tuberculosis and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Murray is the Ronda Stryker and William Johnston Professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. She is also the director of the Research Core in the Department of Global health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Murray’s research focuses on host and pathogen specific determinants of TB infection, disease and treatment outcomes. Much of her research is done in collaboration with the non-governmental organization Partners in Health and its Peru-based sister organization Socios en Salud. The joint team uses bacterial and human genetic and genomic tools to identify variants of interest and to understand the mechanisms of their interactions.

Dr. Barry Bloom is recognized as a pioneer in the field of global health. Trained in immunology, he has made important contributions to infectious diseases, vaccines and global health policy. His lifelong commitment has been to bring knowledge and methods of cutting edge basic science to alleviating the burdens of disease in developing countries. His research has been primarily focused on the immunology and pathogenesis of leprosy and of tuberculosis, which remains the largest cause of death from an infectious disease, with 9.6 million new cases and 1.5 million deaths per year.

Our laboratory conducts research on the virology, immunobiology, and molecular epidemiology of HIV-1 viruses, especially the HIV-1C of southern Africa. The research is oriented to the evolution of new viruses, both circulating recombinant forms and variants that emerge by accumulation of mutations. The studies are usually linked to questions of disease pathogenesis, drug efficacy, and transmission efficiency.

In addition to the laboratory in Boston, we maintain a laboratory in Gaborone, Botswana to support field trials in southern Africa. Through laboratory research and clinical trials, we work to improve chemoprophylaxis to block mother/infant transmission of HIV and also to address increased disease and mortality in HIV uninfected infants born to infected mothers. We also study the development of drug resistance and the possible transmission of drug resistant variants.

My research centers on the virology, molecular epidemiology of HIV in Africa along with implementation science work to improve HIV outcomes. I have worked in West Africa since the 1980s and in 2000, I created and directed the AIDS Prevention Initiative in Nigeria (APIN), with a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2004, I led the Harvard President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) providing prevention, care and HIV antiretroviral therapy in Nigeria, Botswana, and Tanzania. In addition to the capacity building for clinical, laboratory and research capabilities, the program provided treatment for over 160,000 AIDS patients. The PEPFAR program in Nigeria has developed an extensive electronic medical record system that provides real time access to >100,000 patients on antiretroviral treatment. These databases allow us to promote better clinical care and also to answer operational research questions dealing with the efficacy of ART and PMTCT interventions and modulators of this response. Along with Nigerian colleagues, my research group has addressed topics including with HIV co-infections, determinants of ART efficacy and evaluation of PMTCT interventions. In an effort to optimize HIV outcomes we have characterized losses to follow-up in HIV care, treatment and PMTCT interventions and HIV drug resistance. I am currently co-PI for a trial of point of care HIV viral load monitoring to enhance ART outcomes and retention on ART in Nigeria.

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Protozoan parasites remain major causes of disease in developing countries throughout the world, yet little is known about the biology or molecular biology of these organisms. The long term goal of this work is to understand basic molecular mechanisms in protozoan parasites with the goal of discovering and applying parasite specific interventions.

The approach my laboratory has taken is to develop methods for molecular genetic manipulation of protozoan parasites in order to begin functional analysis of genes important for parasite virulence, with an emphasis of mechanisms of drug resistance in parasites. Drug resistance poses a particularly difficult problem in developing countries where newer chemotherapeutic agents are often unavailable or too expensive for routine use. Drug resistance is particularly acute in malaria where resistant parasites have spread throughout the endemic world.