Amira Roess is a professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at George Mason University's College of Health and Human Services, Department of Global and Community Health. She is an epidemiologist with expertise in infectious diseases epidemiology, multi-disciplinary and multi-species field research and evaluating interventions to reduce the transmission and impact of infectious diseases. Dr. Roess currently oversees several longitudinal studies to understand emergence and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases globally, including the emergence and transmission of Campylobacter (with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), MERS-CoV (with support from the US National Science Foundation), and the development of the microbiome during the first year of life. She completed several funded projects including on the epidemiology of HIV in Egypt (with support from the U.S. National Institutes of Health) and disparities in mortality following a natural disaster (with support from the Government of Puerto Rico). She studies breastfeeding patterns and their association with future health disparities and has also studied the impact of hurricanes on morbidity and mortality in the United States, links between food animal production and emerging infectious and zoonotic disease emergence globally, and mHealth (especially apps) technology integration and evaluations to reduce the impact of infectious diseases outbreaks, promote health care and health reduce disparities. 

Dr. Roess holds a PhD in global disease epidemiology and control from Johns Hopkins University.  Her current studies are in the US, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Roess served as the Science Director for the Pew Commission on Industrial Food Animal Production at Johns Hopkins, and was an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the CDC.  She has served as consultant for the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and elsewhere and was previously a tenured Associate Professor at George Washington University.

Education
B.S., Biology, Philosophy, French, St. Peter’s University, NJ
MPH, Public Health, Rutgers University, NJ
PhD, Global Disease Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, MD

Countries/Regions of Expertise
United States, Egypt, Bangladesh, Jordan 

Issues of Expertise
Global Health Security, Infectious Disease Epidemiology (coronavirus, food borne infection, zoonotic disease, and antimicrobial resistance), Emergency Preparedness and Response
 

Contact Information

Please contact media@mei.edu or call 202-785-1141 ext. 241 for assistance contacting this expert.

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