Applied Epidemiology Group
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The Applied Epidemiology Group (AEG) believes that public health is fundamentally a translational, applied science, which focuses on producing relevant and actionable work that will have immediate and long-term effects in affected populations. To this end, the AEG focuses on practice-based public health, including building, maintaining, and evaluating surveillance systems and data, conducting field, environmental, and outbreak investigations, and implementing public health programs and interventions. The AEG is based on collaboration between the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). UNMC and DHHS have entered an Academic Health Department (AHD) Partnership, which is designed to strengthen the links between public health practice and academia. These AHDs “can serve as sites for joint education, research, and practice, enabling the practice and academic communities to work together to develop the current and future public health workforce, build the evidence base for public health, and better deliver the Essential Public Health Services.” |
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Ishrat Kamal-Ahmed, PhD is the Healthcare Associated Infections and Antimicrobial Resistance (HAI/AR) Epidemiologist with the Division of Public Health at Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) – Epidemiology Unit. Additionally, she serves Nebraska Infection Control Assessment and Promotion Program (ICAP) and Nebraska Antibiotic Stewardship Assessment and Promotion Program (ASAP) as the DHHS Health Surveillance Data Analyst. She joined Nebraska DHHS/ICAP/ASAP in January 2019. She received her doctoral degree in the Public Health (environmental health, infectious diseases) from the University of Minnesota, and earned a bachelor’s degree in biology: Toxicology and a Master’s of Science degree in Community Health at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Dr. Kamal-Ahmed leads the antibiotic resistance surveillance program by surveying and analyzing data collected on a daily basis for multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO) and other emerging organisms that pose immediate threat (CRE, CP-CRE, CRAB, CRPA, VRE, MRSA, Candida auris, Clostridioides difficiles, etc. She had been involved in investigation and successful containment of several HAI outbreaks in Nebraska including COVID-19. She is a part of the COVID-19 vaccine break through team and collaborating with the CDC on COVID-19 vaccine data-tracking.Dr. Kamal-Ahmed serves as an instructor for the College of Public Health at University of Nebraska Medical Center. Originally a native of Bangladesh, she currently lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and calls the Midwest her home. Her research interest includes further understanding of health disparities and health outcomes related to infectious diseases that adversely affect disadvantaged population. She frequently collaborates with other professional organizations on conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications. |
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Julia received her BS in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and her MPH from Texas A&M University before continuing her education at UNMC. She is currently a 3rd year PhD student in the department of Epidemiology. Julia's prior work experience includes COVID-19 case investigation with the Brazos county health department and tracking COVID-19 outbreaks within vulnerable populations for Texas DHHS. Julia's research interests include bioterrorism, infectious diseases, and vaccine hesitancy. |
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Elijah Theye is a Master of Public Health student, concentrating in Epidemiology. He received his BS from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Nutrition and Health Sciences, with a concentration in Community Health and Wellness. In addition to his current work in occupational health and safety, his interests include infectious disease epidemiology, wastewater surveillance, and nutritional epidemiology. |
Elijah Theye - Epidemiology MPH Student