天美传媒

Dr. Parker is a senior fellow for the Pandemic and Biosecurity Policy Programs at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs, Bush School of Government and Public Service; associate dean for Global One Health, Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine

Erica Ollmann Saphire, Ph.D. serves as President and CEO of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology. She is one of the world’s leading experts in pandemic and emerging viruses, such as Ebola, Marburg and Lassa. Dr. Saphire directs the Viral Hemorrhagic Fever Immunotherapeutic Consortium (VIC), an NIH-funded Center of Excellence in Translational Research. The VIC unites 43 previously competing academic, industrial and government labs across five continents to understand which antibodies are most effective in patients and to streamline the research pipeline to provide antibody therapeutics against Ebola, Marburg, Lassa and other viruses. Dr. Saphire's research explains, at the molecular level, how and why viruses like Ebola and Lassa are pathogenic and provides the roadmap for developing antibody-based treatments. Her team has solved the structures of the Ebola, Sudan, Marburg, Bundibugyo and Lassa virus glycoproteins, explained how they remodel these structures as they drive themselves into cells, how their proteins suppress immune function and where human antibodies can defeat these viruses. A recent discovery revealed why neutralizing antibodies had been so difficult to elicit against Lassa virus, and provided not only the templates for the needed vaccine, but the molecule itself: a Lassa surface glycoprotein engineered to remain in the right conformation to inspire the needed antibody response. This molecule is the basis for international vaccine efforts against Lassa.
Dr. Saphire is the recipient of numerous accolades and grants, including the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering presented by President Obama at the White House; the Gallo Award for Scientific Excellence and Leadership from the Global Virus Network; young investigator awards from the International Congress of Antiviral Research, the American Society for Microbiology, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the MRC Centre for Virus Research in the United Kingdom; the Investigators in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the Surhain Sidhu award for the most outstanding contribution to the field of diffraction by a person within five years of the Ph.D. Dr. Saphire has been awarded a Fulbright Global Scholar fellowship from the United States Department of State and a Mercator Fellowship from the German research foundation, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, to develop international collaborations around human health and molecular imaging through cryoelectron microscopy.
Dr. Saphire received a B.A. in biochemistry and cell biology and ecology and evolutionary biology from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Scripps Research. She stayed on at Scripps Research as a Research Associate to conduct postdoctoral research and rose through the ranks to become a Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology. In early 2019, Dr. Saphire joined La Jolla Institute for Immunology to establish a molecular imaging facility for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) at the Institute. The extremely detailed images produced by cryo-EM reveal precisely how essential mechanisms of the immune system operate.

Mario Macis, PhD (Economics, University of Chicago) is an associate professor in the research track with expertise in the areas of prosocial behavior, morally controversial transactions, global health, experimental economics, development economics, and labor economics. He is also Affiliate Faculty at the JHU Berman Institute of Bioethics, Associate Faculty at the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at JHU Medicine, Faculty Research Fellow in the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), and Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Dr. Macis has been a consultant for the World Bank, the International Labor Organization, the National Marrow Donor Program, and the United Nations Development Programme.

Katie Hinde investigates the ways a mother's milk in humans and other mammals shapes infant growth, health, and neurodevelopment.

Importantly, milk not only builds the infant鈥檚 body, but fuels the infant鈥檚 behavioral activity. Most recently she has begun to explore the complex evolutionary dynamics among mother, microbes, and babies. Hinde鈥檚 research impact on breastfeeding and breast milk can also translate into more personalized clinical recommendations and health optimization for mothers and their infants.

She is also a leader in public outreach efforts through her "Mammals Suck... Milk!" science outreach blog. In addition, she leads the annual 鈥淢arch Mammal Madness鈥�. Inspired by (but in no way affiliated with or representing) the NCAA College Basketball March Madness Championship Tournament, March Mammal Madness is an annual tournament of simulated combat competition among mammals.

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Dr. Noorbaksh specializes in several areas, such as international politics, global energy and health, and democratic movements and processes in Middle East politics. Dr. Noorbaksh has published extensively on the Middle East politics, including the Foreign Policy Association, Middle East Policy Journal, and the International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Dr. Noorbaksh鈥檚 most recent academic achievements include receiving his master of business administration and master of health administration (MHA) in 2006 from the University of Houston. Previous to these degrees, Dr. Noorbaksh earned his B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Texas in 1979 and M.A. in political science from the University of Houston in 1986. In 1996, Dr. Noorbaksh earned both his Ph.D. in government studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a position at Harvard University鈥檚 Center for Middle Eastern Studies as a Post-Doctoral Fellow before joining Harrisburg University in 2006. He is currently working on a number of articles on the Middle East and Iran, and a book on the interaction of Islam, nationalism and democratic change in Iran.

Research Interests: International management and business, Strategic management, Global organizations,鈥� Healthcare systems and Global health, Energy and alternative sources, Risk management, International relationship issues

Dr. R. Wesley Farr, Lecturer, teaches environmental health, aerospace toxicology, global health, and infectious diseases for the UWF Department of Public Health

Farr is a physician with specialties in Infectious Diseases, Tropical Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Aerospace Medicine.  He continues part-time work in Infectious Diseases.

He was previously on the Infectious Diseases faculty at West Virginia University where he was Director of the International Health program, Director of the Clinical Tropical Medicine and Parasitology Course, and Activity Director of the annual AIDS in West Virginia Conference.

He retired from the US Navy in 2015 after serving as Senior Medical Officer on the USS Harry S Truman, Director of the Military Tropical Medicine Course, and Executive Officer of the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center.  He was a medical advisor to the ANA Regional Hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.

Before coming to UWF in 2018, he worked at Joint Ambulatory Care Center (VA) and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

He received his bachelor鈥檚 degree in Biology, Doctor of Medicine degree, and Masters in Public Health degree from West Virginia University.

Meredith Marten, assistant professor of anthropology, teaches cultural anthropology, medical anthropology and African studies.

Marten is a cultural and medical anthropologist whose work on HIV prevention programs in East Africa led to her current research on reproductive health and maternal mortality. Her primary research interests include equity in access to HIV and maternal health services in Tanzania and northwest Florida, focusing on how volatility in donor aid and health policy affects the health and well-being of women living in poverty.

Medical anthropology incorporates both cultural and biological anthropology by examining the effects of social and cultural factors on health and health care. For her dissertation, she spent 20 months in rural and urban health-care settings in Tanzania to document the impact reduced funding can have on a health system鈥檚 ability to respond to health emergencies. She focused on US-funded programs designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and the coping strategies HIV-positive women use to manage their health in unpredictable donor aid and health care contexts. She is a recipient of a Fulbright-Hays dissertation fellowship, and has written peer-reviewed journal articles related to this work and to global health, including 鈥淔rom Emergency to Sustainability: Shifting Objectives in the US Government鈥檚 HIV Response in Tanzania,鈥� published in Global Public Health, 鈥淟iving with HIV as Donor Aid Declines,鈥� published in Medical Anthropology, and 鈥淗ospital Side-Hustles: Funding Conundrums and Perverse Incentives in Tanzania鈥檚 Publicly-Funded Health Sector鈥� in Social Science and Medicine.

Marten received a bachelor鈥檚 degree in anthropology from Michigan State University, a master鈥檚 in anthropology from Florida State University, a master鈥檚 in public health (international health and development) from Tulane University, and a doctorate in medical anthropology from the University of Florida.

Dr. Daudet Ilunga Tshiswaka is an Assistant Professor of Public Health. He has a PhD. in Community Health from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research interests focus on health disparity, global health, and minorities鈥� health.

Much of his research has involved health promotion and studies of health issues of minorities such as Africans who immigrated to the United States. His doctoral dissertation, for example, examined perceptions of diabetes risk factors among Congolese immigrants in Illinois.

His current research examines such topics as understanding colorectal and prostate cancer screenings uptake among US and foreign-born men in the US, stress factors in transnational West African women, aspects of the Ebola outbreak, and knowledge of condom use as an HIV preventative measure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He has conducted studies on assistive technology use by people with disabilities, health insurance knowledge among Congolese immigrants and African-Americans, high blood pressure among African transnational migrants, and health education and health awareness. Peer-reviewed publications carrying his work include Journal of Public Health, Journal of Race and Policy, Journal of Pan African Studies, and Transnational Social Review: A Social Work Journal.

Dr. Andiara Schwingel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she directs the Aging and Diversity Lab (ADL), and teaches in the area of aging, women’s health, and global health. Her research inform public health policy and practice that can lead to healthier communities. For the past fifteen years, she studies ways to improve the health of underserved populations through community health programs that are both culturally-sensitive and sustainable. Underserved populations, such as US Latino immigrants, older adults, and rural dwellers, are often at the highest risk for developing chronic diseases. Her research is grounded in interdisciplinary collaborations (local and international), mixed-method approaches, and community engagement. Over the years, ADL has been the home and place of reference for research to many students, including underrepresented minorities.

Professor Runstadler joined the Department of Infectious Disease & Global Health in 2017. Working at the host-pathogen-environmental interface, the Runstadler laboratory studies how emerging virus, specifically influenza, is maintained, transmitted and evolves in reservoir or intermediate animal hosts. A major part of this work is directed at understanding how both host and viral factors may influence the risk of viral spillover into new hosts, including humans. Dr. Runstadler is working with collaborators to bridge the gap between studies of disease surveillance and disease ecology with a molecular and comparative understanding of pathogenesis, immune response and evolution. His current research is particularly focused on understanding genotype-phenotype relationships of the influenza virus, the role of diverse hosts and environments, and the interspecies movement of virus to the emergence of disease in new populations.
Prior to joining the faculty at the Cummings School, Dr. Runstadler was a faculty member at both the University of Alaska Fairbanks with the Institute of Arctic Biology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the Division of Comparative Medicine. Dr. Runstadler received an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and his DVM and PhD in Genetics from the University of California, Davis. Prior to beginning his own lab at UAF, Dr. Runstadler was a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Companion Animal Health under Dr. Neils Pedersen at the University of California, Davis.

Dr. Hellen Amuguni is a veterinarian with doctoral training in Infectious Diseases. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University. Her doctoral dissertation was conducted under the supervision of Professor Saul Tzipori, a renowned scientist in the field of infectious diseases and vaccine research where she investigated sublingual immunization as an alternative delivery route for vaccines. The project, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Grand Challenges for Global Health initiative, developed an effective heat stable non-injectable tetanus vaccine that does not require a cold chain and can be used in developing countries.
She has many years of experience working as a Veterinarian and Gender specialist among pastoralist communities in the horn of Africa, developing gender programs, conducting gender assessment studies among livestock projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Southern Sudan and Somalia. She also facilitates in the International Veterinary Medicine forums and Problem Based Learning courses and is the Co-Director of the Human Dimensions of Conservation Medicine course for graduate students in the masters in Conservation Medicine program.
Dr. Amuguni is the technical advisor for the USAID RESPOND project Africa. She coordinates projects across six African countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Democratic Republic of Congo working with 14 institutions of public health and veterinary medicine to build the capacity of partner African countries using a One Health approach to investigate, respond to, and counter existing and future emerging infectious disease outbreaks.