Dr. Brown coordinates the State of Maryland Pesticide Education & Assessment Program. Her research focuses on identifying practices that minimize exposure and can be effectively implemented, and on health effects of pesticide exposure.

Dr. Brown's web page.

(301) 405-5599

Antonio Busalacchi is the Director of ESSIC and a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Science. Tony came to ESSIC in 2000, after serving as Chief of the NASA/Goddard Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes. Tony received his Ph.D. degree in oceanography from Florida State University in 1982. He has studied tropical ocean circulation and its role in the coupled climate system. His interests include the study of climate variability and prediction, tropical ocean modeling, ocean remote sensing, and data assimilation. His research in these areas has supported a range of international and national research programs dealing with global change and climate, particularly as affected by the oceans.

Dr. Busalacchi's Webpage

(301) 405-5509

Mr. Chelikowsky's current work focuses on the development of a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for analyzing biomarkers of active and passive smoking. The LC-MS/MS method will be used to detect nicotine and cotinine in the serum of individuals participating in a large NIH funded study.

301-405-6583

Betty J. Dabney is a Research Associate Professor at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. She received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Austin and was a post-doctoral fellow in human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. She worked in industry for many years in environmental and occupational health, and in public health informatics. She has designed and authored large information systems in environmental health, has co-authored three books, and has obtained over $1 million in federal funding. Her interests include linking environmental public health informatics, biomonitoring, reproductive hazards, children's environmental health, and environmental justice.

(301) 405-2438

Dr. Haider teaches a course in Global Health and his working to identify and establish international internships for our students and partnerships with our School.

(301) 405-5509

Mary is a graduate assistant serving as coordinator for the Institute.

(301) 405-0389

BSA from the University of Florida, Gainesville in bacteriology and chemistry; MS and PhD from St. John's University in microbiology. Former Professor and Chair, Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics (Microbiology), University of Maryland; Adjunct Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, UMB; and Former Director, Infectious Diseases Program, Naval Medical Research and Development Command, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. More than 120 refereed publications currently in press with six additional in preparation; and 15 books and chapters. Member of Sigma Xi; Elected Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science. Extensive contract and grant work with FDA, Naval Medical Research and Development Command; Agency for International Development; Agricultural Experiment Station; USDA; Maryland Department of the Environment.

(301) 405-6583

Erinna Kinney is a Graduate Assistant in MIEH.

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Dr. Knight is currently the Vice President and Director of Research and Development at Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc. His research interests include rapid molecular genetic techniques for pathogen detection, human genetics and diagnostic applications as well as the global movement of infectious disease agents and international cooperation to control infectious diseases.

More information on Dr. Knight

(301) 405-5509

Dr. Micallef is a microbial ecologist working with Dr. Amy Sapkota.

(301) 405-5509

Dr. Milton is Professor and Director of MIAEH and Affiliate Faculty in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. He received his BS in Chemistry from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, his MD from Johns Hopkins University and his DrPH (Environmental Health) from Harvard University. He trained in medicine at Emory and Boston Universities and Occupational and Environmental Medicine at Harvard. He joined the Harvard School of Public Health Faculty in 1990 and was appointed Professor in University of Massachusetts Lowell's School of Health and Environment in 2005. He is board certified in internal and occupational medicine and has 20 years experience in an occupational medicine referral practice. He has taught courses on aerobiology, toxicology, indoor air quality, respiratory epidemiology, physiology, pathology, pathophysiology. He is currently Adjunct Senior Lecturer on Occupational and Environmental Health at Harvard School of Public Health, Lecturer on Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Attending Physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. Dr. Milton is a past chair of the ACGIH Bioaerosols committee and a member of the committee since 1988. He is chair of the external advisory board for the UTMB Environmental Health Science Center, Galveston, TX. He is a member of the editorial boards of Applied Environmental Microbiology, Indoor Air, and BMC Public Health. He was elected a Fellow of the International Society for Indoor Air Quality and Climate in 2008.

Dr. Milton leads multidisciplinary investigations of the health effects of bioaerosols with three major themes: 1) the relationship of asthma onset and exacerbation to exposure to allergens and microbial products, 2) investigation and prevention of airborne infection transmission, and 3) exhaled breath analysis. His asthma research includes studies of occupational asthma and the impact of ambient bioaerosols on asthma exacerbation, especially the impact of low level, early life endotoxin exposure on the risk of childhood allergy and asthma. His research on mechanisms and prevention of airborne infection transmission includes productivity effects of rhinovirus colds in office workers and asthmatic children, mathematical models, and laboratory and epidemiological studies of control methods for influenza and agents of biological warfare and terrorism. Exhaled breath analysis is a unifying theme with ongoing work on exhaled gas and particle phase biomarkers for lung inflammation and studies of exhaled particles as the vehicle of airborne communicable disease transmission.

Click here to see Dr. Milton's recent presentation on mechanisms of transmission of swine flu, given at the Institute of Medicine August 12, 2009.

Dr. Milton's Lab Webpage

(301) 405-5509

Ms. Rosenberg's research interests focus on water quality and safe drinking water sources. Ms. Rosenberg is currently working on a study to evaluate the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE), and coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) in wastewater, reclaimed wastewater used for spray irrigation, and dermal and nasal swabs from spray irrigation workers. This study will evaluate potential inhalation and dermal exposures from reclaimed wastewater in occupational settings. To evaluate the presence of MRSA and VRE, Ms. Rosenberg is using standard membrane filtration methods, centrifugation, and direct plating techniques. Her findings will be important in assessing possible microbial risks from using reclaimed wastewater, which is likely to become a more common water source.

(301) 405-8716

Dr. Amir Sapkota holds a joint appointment at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Dr. Sapkota received his PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and his BS in Chemistry from Clark University. He joins the growing number of faculty at UMCP after successfully completing post-doctoral work at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France.

Understanding exposures that occur among individuals and identifying markers of cellular responses that can predict the development of future diseases enables public health practitioners to identify specific subpopulations at risk, who subsequently can be targeted with proper interventions to prevent such disease occurrence. Within this framework, Dr. Sapkota's primary research interests lie in the area of exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology. He is interested in utilizing personal air measurements, as well as urinary and serum biomarkers to understand the risk of diseases associated with exposures to various air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), in the environment and at the workplace. At UMCP, Dr. Sapkota will work on a range of topics including the inner city environment and asthma; impacts of traffic on community air pollution; and indoor air pollution from solid fuel usage in developing countries and risk of lung cancer, to name a few.

(301) 405-1772

Dr. Amy R. Sapkota has a joint appointment with the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. She received a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MPH in Environmental Health Sciences from the Yale School of Public Health and a BS in Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Sapkota also holds a Certificate in Risk Sciences and Public Policy, and completed post-doctoral fellowships at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Environmental Microbial Genomics Group within Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Lyon, France.

Dr. Sapkota's research interests lie in the areas of microbial environmental exposure assessment and environmental epidemiology, with a focus on evaluating the complex relationships between the environment, food and water production systems, and human infectious diseases. Current research projects include: 1) evaluating changes in bacterial antibiotic resistance as large-scale poultry farms transition to organic practices; 2) investigating the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in tertiary-treated wastewater used for spray irrigation; and 3) utilizing metagenomic methods to understand total bacterial biodiversity in cigarettes, smokeless tobacco products and environmental tobacco smoke. Other areas of interest include the human health impacts associated with exposures to bacterial and viral pathogens prevalent in the Chesapeake Bay.

(301) 405-5509

Kristie is a Graduate Research Assistant working with Dr. Dabney on environmental links to neurodevelopmental disorders and global health.