Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health
Our People
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Betty Dabney, Assistant Director; Research Associate Professor |
| 2310 SPH Bldg. bdabney@umd.edu
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. |
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Nicole Favaro, Executive Administrative Assistant |
| SPH 2301 nfavaro@umd.edu
(301) 405-5509 Nicole is the newest member of the MIEH family. She likes the Ravens and lives with a very spoiled puggle dog. |
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Sam Joseph, Director |
| swj@umd.edu
(301) 405-0389 BSA from the University of Florida, Gainesville in bacteriology and chemistry; MS and PhD from St. Johns 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. |
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Erinna Kinney, Graduate Assistant |
| 2310 SPH Bldg. ekinney@umd.edu
(301) 405-6583 Erinna Kinney is a Graduate Assistant in MIEH. |
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Shirley Micallef, Postdoctoral Fellow |
| 2302a SPH Bldg. smicall@umd.edu
(301) 405-5509 Dr. Micallef is a microbial ecologist working with Dr. Amy Sapkota. |
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Joanne Perodin, Graduate Assistant |
| 3310 SPH Bldg. jperodin@umd.edu
(301) 405-5509 Joanne Perodin is a Graduate Research Assistant in MIAEH. |
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Rachel Rosenberg, Graduate Research Assistant |
| rerosenb@umd.edu
(301) 405-5509 Rachel is a Graduate Assistant working with Dr. Amy Sapkota. |
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Amir Sapkota, Assistant Professor; Affiliate Faculty, Epidemiology & Biostatistics Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health |
| Room 2328; SPH Bldg amirsap@umd.edu
(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. |
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Amy R Sapkota, Assistant Professor; Affiliate Faculty, Epidemiology & Biostatistics Epidemiology and Biostatistics | Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health |
| 2308 SPH Building ars@umd.edu
(301) 405-1772 Dr. Amy R. Sapkota received a PhD in Environmental Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an MPH in Environmental Epidemiology and Environmental Health Policy from the Yale School of Public Health and a BS in Biology from the University of Maryland, College Park. She 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 the dissemination of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and resistance genes from agricultural sources into air, surface water, groundwater, soil and food products, and understanding how this may contribute to rises in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in humans; and 2) utilizing metagenomic methods to understand total bacterial and viral biodiversity in environmental samples including soil, food, air and other commercial products. Other interests include the environmental and human health impacts associated with the discharge of wastewater treatment effluent into the Chesapeake Bay and the dissemination of transgenes from genetically modified organisms (corn and soy plants) into groundwater and surface water sources. |
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Kristie A. Trousdale, Graduate Research Assistant |
| Room 2301 ktrousda@umd.edu
(301) 405-5509 Kristie is a Graduate Research Assistant working with Dr. Dabney on environmental links to neurodevelopmental disorders and global health. |
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