— College of Public Health — Departments — Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health — Faculty & Staff — John J. Lowe, PhD

John J. Lowe, PhD

Anne M. Hubbard Chair, UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health
Department Chair and Profressor, UNMC College of Public Health
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Security Training and Education, UNMC Academic Affairs
Director, UNMC Global Center for Health Security
Director of Research, Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, Nebraska Medicine
Co-Principal Investigator, National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center,

Send Email

Phone: 402-559-8924

Since joining UNMC in 2011, John J. Lowe, PhD, has held a number of leadership and faculty roles.His expertise, particularly in infection prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, has been instrumental in national and international health security efforts.

Dr. Lowe is the inaugural Anne M. Hubbard endowed chair and department chair of the UNMC Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health in the College of Public Health, where he also is a professor.

Dr. Lowe also currently serves as UNMC's assistant vice chancellor for health security training and education; director of the UNMC Global Center for Health Security; and as director of research and development of the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit at Nebraska Medicine.

He also is co-principal investigator of the National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center, which is a national consortium of UNMC, Nebraska Medicine, Emory University in Atlanta, and New York City Health and Hospitals Corp.

Education

2012, PhD Medical Science, University of Nebraska Medical Center
2009, MS Molecular Virology, University of Nebraska at Lincoln
2006, BS Biological Chemistry, University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Research Interests

John J. Lowe, PhD is an Associate Professor who serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health Security Training and Education, Director of Research for the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit and National Quarantine Unit, and Director for the Global Center for Health Security at the University Of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Lowe specializes in infection prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases and special pathogens including COVID-19, Ebola, Lassa fever and Influenza. He has peer reviewed papers in molecular virology, industrial hygiene and environmental exposure assessment, focusing on environmental microbiology and disrupting transmission of infectious diseases.

Dr. Lowe leads COVID-19 initiatives investigating COVID-19 transmission dynamics, improving prevention in healthcare, long term care, meat packing and other industries. He currently serves as primary investigator for national training centers, international biosurveillence networks and has helped to determine national guidelines, policies, procedures, and best practices to treat patients with SARS Coronavirus 2, Ebola virus disease and other highly infectious diseases. Specific areas of focus include patient transportation, waste handling/disposal, patient discharge, patient remains, PPE donning and doffing, decontamination, etc. Dr. Lowe holds leadership roles in several organizations and centers, such as the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit, the National Quarantine Unit, the National Ebola Training and Education Center, and the National Health Security Training Center. John is Co-PI of the Biosafety and Infectious Disease Training Initiative, a NIEHS funded consortium. Dr. Lowe has funded projects associated with addressing and disrupting the spread of highly infectious diseases through laboratory capacity building and clinical trials in West Africa as well as research initiatives with Department of Defense to optimize high-level isolation systems.

Selected Publications

Santarpia JL, Rivera DN, Herrera VL, Morwitzer MJ, Creager HM, Santarpia GW, Crown KK, Brett-Major DM, Schnaubelt ER, Broadhurst MJ, Lawler JV., Reid SP., Lowe JJ. Aerosol and surface contamination of SARS-CoV-2 observed in quarantine and isolation care. Sci Rep 2020 10, 12732.
Aziz S, Arabi YM, Alhazzani W, Evans L, Citerio G, Fischkoff K, Salluh J, Meyfroidt G, Alshamsi F, Oczkowski S, Azoulay E, Price A, Burry L, Dzierba A, Benintende A, Morgan J, Grasselli G, Rhodes A, Moller MH, Chu L, Schwedhelm S, Lowe JJ, Bin D, Christian MD. Managing ICU surge during the COVID-19 crisis: rapid guidelines. Intensive Care Med. 2020 Jul;46(7):1303-1325. doi: 10.1007/s00134-020-06092-5. Epub 2020 Jun 8.
⁺Herstein, J.J., Biddinger, P.D., Gibbs, S.G., Le, A.B., Jelden, K.C., Hewlett, A., Lowe, J.J. Sustainability of High-Level Isolation Capabilities among U.S. Ebola Treatment Centers. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2017 23(6): 965-967.
+Jelden K.C., Gibbs S.G., Smith, P.W., Hewlett A.L., Iwen P.C., Schmid K.K., Lowe J.J. Comparison of hospital room surface disinfection using a novel ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) generator. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. 2016 Sep;13(9):690-8. doi: 10.1080/15459624.2016.1166369
BenDarif E., Khalil A., Rayes A., Bennour E., Dhawi A., Lowe J.J., Gibbs S.G., Goering R.V. Characterization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated at Tripoli Medical Center, Libya, between 2008 and 2014. Journal of Medical Microbiology. 2016 65(12):1472-5.

Professional Affiliations

American Public Health Association
American Society of Microbiology
Public Health Association of Nebraska