EOH: One Health, Antibiotic Resistance & Food Safety
Research
One Health approaches, or approaches that aim to attain optimal health for humans, animals, plants, and our shared environments, provide novel and actionable information at a local, national, and global scale. Research in EOH has revealed critical insights that advance our fundamental understanding of these issues and how to address them effectively. For example, E.coli is a bacteria that can infect both humans and animals, and its contamination through the food supply chain has considerable public health impacts. EOH research found that foodborne E.coli strains in retail meat products are estimated to cause between 480,000 and 640,000 urinary tract infections in the U.S. annually [Liu, Price]. And, in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) the burden of foodborne disease is largely attributable to informal markets. In 2017, in Burkina Faso and Ethiopia, children under the age of five shouldered a majority share of the foodborne disease burden despite them comprising a small share of the total population [Kowalcyk]. In addition to studying the origins, transmission, and burden of infectious diseases in a One Health context, there is an urgent need for new ways to identify, prevent, and treat infectious diseases, and the next pandemic. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, municipal wastewater testing provided novel information about community disease burden and can be combined with other public health indicators through advanced algorithms to inform evidence-based pandemic management decisions [Hu].
Learn more about research programs: Hu, Kowalcyk, Liu, Price
Research Experts
Xindi (Cindy) Hu
Assistant Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health
Barbara Kowalcyk
Associate Professor, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, and of Environmental and Occupational Health
Director, Institute for Food Safety and Nutrition Security
Cindy Liu
Associate Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health
Co-Director and Chief Medical Officer, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center
Lance Price
Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health
Co-Director, Antibiotic Resistance Action Center