Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Afternoon Program

Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall, Danforth Campus

Evening Program

Special Symposium featuring the Launch of the WashU Air Quality and Health Initiative

Clark-Fox Forum, Hillman Hall, Danforth Campus

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Morning Program

Moore Auditorium, North Building, Medical Campus

Poster Session

Farrell Learning and Teaching Center Atrium, Medical Campus

Salma Abdalla, MBBS, MPH, DrPH | Panelist

Assistant Professor, WashU Public Health

Salma Abdalla, a physician by training, is co-director of the Global Health Futures Research Network. Her work has been funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Justice, the National Institutes of Health, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the WHO.

Ashley Bardon, PhD, MPH | Moderator

Assistant Director of the Global Health Center, WashU Medicine

Ashley Bardon is an epidemiologist and has worked in global health research and education programs for over 12 years. Prior to joining WashU, she worked at the University of Washington International Clinical Research Center, the UCLA Division of Infectious Diseases and the UCLA Center for World Health. Her research has focused on differentiated models of healthcare service delivery in sub-Saharan Africa and point-of-care and self-testing strategies for HIV, malaria, and other health conditions.

Yin Cao, ScD, MPH | Panelist

Associate Professor of Surgery and Medicine, WashU Medicine

Co-Lead, Team PROSPECT, Cancer Grand Challenges

Yin Cao is a molecular epidemiologist tackling the global surge of early-onset cancers. She co-leads the NCI/CRUK Cancer Grand Challenges team PROSPECT, uniting interdisciplinary experts worldwide to uncover how life course exposures drive early-onset colorectal cancer and aiming to translate those insights into prevention strategies for younger generations. She co-directs WashU’s Biobank and Big Data Core in the Digestive Disease Research Core Center and the Air Quality and Health Initiative.

Victor G. Dávila-Román, MD, FACC, FASE | Master of Ceremonies

Professor of Medicine, Director of the Global Health Center and Vice Chair of Global Health in the Department of Medicine; WashU Medicine

Victor Dávila-Román is vice chair of global health in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine and professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division of the Department of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico and has been affiliated with WashU since 1986. He is also medical director of cardiovascular imaging at the Clinical Research Core Laboratory in the cardiovascular division and deputy editor for the journal, Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. Dávila-Román has extensive experience in clinical research and administration and in leading national and international research studies in chronic non-communicable diseases including hypertension and heart failure.

Jenna Ditto, PhD, MS | Panelist

Assistant Professor, WashU McKelvey Engineering

Jenna Ditto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental, and Chemical Engineering at WashU. Her research group investigates indoor air quality, with a focus on the chemical transformations of common and novel indoor contaminants, how these transformations shape our indoor pollutant exposures, and the implications of these exposures on human health.

Peter U. Fischer, PhD | Speaker and Panelist

Professor of Medicine, WashU Medicine

Peter Fischer is the Co-PI of the Gates Foundation-funded DOLF project and an international expert on helminth parasites. Fischer specializes in basic and translational sciences to support the control and elimination of neglected tropical diseases, with a special focus on helminths. He studies parasitic worms not only in the lab but also in the field and develops new diagnostic and treatment strategies. His research also includes One Health aspects of helminth infections, the study of helminth/endosymbiont and helminth/microbiome interactions. He performs much of his field research in resource poor settings in Africa and Asia. He is currently mentoring fellows, postdocs and students in the field of molecular microbiology, parasitology and global health. He advises researchers not only in the lab in St. Louis but also during field research in Africa and Asia.

Victoria J. Fraser, MD | Opening Remarks

Adolphus Busch Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine, WashU Medicine

Victoria Fraser is the Adolphus Busch Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at WashU. She is an infectious disease specialist, and her research focuses on health-care epidemiology and the prevention of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance.  As the first female clinical department chair at WashU, Fraser has played an important role in diversity, equity and inclusion and gender equity efforts at the School of Medicine. She is an active clinician, educator and researcher. 

Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH | Speaker

Margaret C. Ryan Dean and Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor in Public Health, WashU Public Health

Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Initiatives, WashU

Sandro Galea, a physician, epidemiologist, and author, is the Margaret C. Ryan Dean and Eugene S. and Constance Kahn Distinguished Professor of the WashU School of Public Health. He was previously the dean and Robert A. Knox Professor at Boston University School of Public Health and has held academic and leadership positions at Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and the New York Academy of Medicine. He has published extensively in the peer-reviewed literature and is a regular contributor to a range of public media about the social causes of health, mental health and the consequences of trauma. He has been listed as one of the most widely cited scholars in the social sciences. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and has received several lifetime achievement awards.

Stella Hartinger-Peña, PhD, MSc | Panelist

Associate Professor, Department of Public Health and Administration, Cayetano Heredia University

Co-Director, Latin-American Center for Excellence on Climate Change and Health

Regional Director, Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change for Latin America

Stella Hartinger is a Peruvian Environmental Epidemiologist and Associate Professor at the School of Public Health from the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia. She co-directs the Latin-American Centre of Excellence for Climate Change and Health and is the regional director of the Lancet Countdown Health and Climate Change for Latin America. 

Mark Huffman, MD, MPH | Master of Ceremonies

William Bowen Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Global Health Center, WashU Medicine

Professor of Public Health, WashU Public Health

Mark Huffman is the William Bowen Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Global Health Center, and Professor of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis. He also has a secondary appointment at The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales in Australia. Huffman is a practicing cardiologist, researcher, and educator who has more than 15 years of experience in global cardiovascular disease epidemiology, clinical trials, dissemination and implementation science, and health policy research and training. His research seeks to improve global cardiovascular health and health care in low- and middle-income countries across the spectrum of disease prevention and to bring lessons learned back to the United States.

Lora Iannotti, PhD | Speaker and Panelist

Lauren and Lee Fixel Distinguished Professor, WashU Public Health

Director, E3 Nutrition Lab

Director for Planetary Health, WashU Center for the Environment

Lora Iannotti is a professor in the WashU School of Public Health, founding director of the E3 Nutrition Lab, and director of planetary health at the Center for the Environment. Her lab aims to identify nutrition solutions that embrace principles embodied in the three E’s: equity, environment and evolution. Iannotti leads projects in Ecuador, Haiti and Madagascar where she collaborates with local partners to test innovative approaches to achieving sustainable, healthy dietary patterns that improve young child growth and brain development.

Margaret E. Kruk, MD, MPH | Speaker and Panelist

Distinguished Professor of Health Systems and Medicine, WashU Medicine

Director, QuEST Centers and Network

Margaret Kruk is the Distinguished Professor of Health Systems and Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, focusing on improving health systems and building trust across countries. She leads the QuEST Centers and Network, a global research consortium aimed at enhancing health system quality, and previously held academic positions at Harvard, Columbia, and Michigan, with experience at the United Nations and McKinsey and Company. Dr. Kruk holds an MD from McMaster University and an MPH from Harvard University.

Mark J. Manary, MD | Speaker and Panelist

Helen B. Roberson Professor of Pediatrics, WashU Medicine

Mark Manary is the founder of Project Peanut Butter and a leading expert in childhood malnutrition. A pediatrician and professor, he pioneered the use of ready-to-use therapeutic food, which has saved millions of children from severe acute malnutrition. His work extends beyond nutrition to maternal health and mental health interventions, ensuring sustainable, community-driven solutions in sub-Saharan Africa.  

Randall V. Martin, PhD, MS, MSc | Master of Ceremonies

Raymond R. Tucker Distinguished Professor, WashU McKelvey Engineering

Randall Martin is the Raymond R. Tucker Distinguished Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering at Washington University.  His research is at the interface of satellite remote sensing, global modeling, and measurements, with a focus on characterizing atmospheric composition to inform effective policies surrounding major environmental and public health challenges ranging from air quality to climate change. His professional honors include an Atmospheric Sciences Ascent Award by the American Geophysical Union, being named a Highly Cited Researcher by the Web of Science, and being recognized by Research.com as one of the top 25 environmental scientists worldwide. 

Mary M. McKay, PhD | Opening Remarks

Executive Vice Provost, WashU

Mary McKay works across WashU to enhance interdisciplinary research and education to build collaborations that ensure the successful implementation of the university’s strategic plan. McKay’s academic experience connects deeply to social work, public health and social policy. She has received substantial federal funding for research focused on meeting the mental health needs of youth and families affected by poverty and has significant experience in child mental health services and implementation research methods. Supported by the National Institutes of Health, McKay has more than 30 years of experience conducting HIV prevention and care-oriented studies in the United States and nine countries.

Morven McLean, PhD, MSc | Closing Remarks

Executive Director of Networks and Innovation and Professor of Practice, WashU Public Health

Inaugural Director, WashU Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM)

Morven McLean is Executive Director of Networks & Innovation and Professor of Practice in the School of Public Health, and she additionally serves as the inaugural Director of WashU’s Food and Agriculture Research Mission (FARM). An agricultural scientist with more than 25 years of international development experience, McLean has dedicated her career to developing and implementing applied research and capacity building programs that address scientific, regulatory, and trade issues related to agricultural innovation and food and nutrition security.

Aaloke Mody, MD | Speaker and Panelist

Assistant Professor of Medicine, WashU School of Medicine

Aaloke Mody is a physician with training in HIV, infectious diseases, implementation science and epidemiologic methods. Mody’s overarching research interests are in utilizing implementation science and epidemiologic methods to better understand how to deliver high-quality and person-centered HIV care in routine practice in low- and middle-income country settings. 

Nicole Moore, DSc | Panelist

Senior Director of Research Development, WashU Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research

Nicole Moore is the Senior Director of Research Development at Washington University. This role involves supporting complex interdisciplinary federal grant proposals from conception to award, oversight of the institutional Limited Submission process and the interdisciplinary seed funding program, advising faculty on grant proposals, and building new collaborative scientific teams.  Under her leadership, the Research Development Office has supported WashU teams to bring in over $160M in awards in 5 years and helped launch federally-funded, cross-disciplinary teams with funding from NSF, DoD, DOE, HHS and NASA.  Moore received her doctorate in chemical engineering from WashU. She has earned multiple awards, grants and fellowships, including a National Research Council Postdoctoral fellowship and an American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Fellowship.

Proscovia Nabunya, PhD, MSW | Speaker and Panelist

Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Center for Child Health and Development, WashU Brown School

Proscovia Nabunya is an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Center for Child Health and Development (ICHAD). Her global research focuses on HIV prevention, treatment and stigma reduction interventions; mental health; and family and community-based support systems for children and families in low-resource settings. She has over 20 years experience conducting research among children, youth and families impacted by HIV and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. She has authored over 100 publications. Her work has been primarily funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). She serves as an expert reviewer on HIV special emphasis panels of the NIH. Nabunya has mentored numerous graduate and doctoral-level students and trainees, both from the US and from sub–Saharan Africa.

Olufunto Olusanya, PhD, MD, MPH | Speaker and Panelist

Research Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation, WashU Medicine

Olufunto Olusanya is a physician, implementation scientist and epidemiologist with over 17 years of clinical experience and 12 years of impactful research expertise. Her work has advanced global health and health equity by using innovative methods, such as community-based participatory approaches and digital health to address health disparities among underserved racial and ethnic minority populations. As a research track assistant professor of medicine and a co-associate director at the WashU Medicine Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation, Olusanya leads transformative global health initiatives that span both infectious (Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Human Papillomavirus) and non-infectious diseases (hypertension), coordinating and supporting pilot studies, clinical trials, capacity-building, and interdisciplinary research collaborations.

Temitope Ojo, PhD, MPH | Speaker and Panelist

Research Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Light Institute for Global Health and Transformation, WashU Medicine

Temitope Ojo is an accomplished public health professional with significant research expertise in implementation science and infectious and noncommunicable disease epidemiology. As an incoming Research track Assistant Professor of Medicine and a co-Associate Director of the Light Institute for Global Health Transformation in the Infectious Diseases Division at WashU Medicine, her research aims to identify and leverage social connections in designing implementation strategies that promote equitable and sustained uptake of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) among adolescents and young adults (AYA), girls, women, communities, and low-resource settings. She uses Implementation Science (IS) and participatory action research to examine how partnerships, co-design, co-learning, and participatory approaches, including crowdsourcing, can address critical knowledge and implementation gaps in adopting EBIs.

William G. Powderly, MD | Closing Remarks

J. William Campbell Professor of Medicine, Co-Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Larry J. Shapiro Director of the Institute for Public Health, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Science, and Director of the Institute of Clinical and Translational Science; WashU Medicine

Bill Powderly has been actively involved in HIV-related clinical research for more than 30 years. He has been a member of numerous advisory groups on HIV and infectious diseases for the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others. As director of the Institute for Public Health, Powderly has translated scientific advances to a wider population to improve public health. Powderly is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians (London) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and is a former president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Vijay K. Ramani, PhD | Closing Remarks

Vice Provost for Graduate Education and International Affairs and Roma B. and Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professor, WashU

Professor, WashU McKelvey Engineering

Vijay K. Ramani is the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and International Affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. He holds the Roma B. and Raymond H. Wittcoff Distinguished University Professorship and serves as a Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. His prior roles at the University include serving as the Chair of WashU’s Faculty Senate Council and as Faculty Fellow for Entrepreneurship for the Danforth Campus. Ramani supports international research and education across all schools and facilitates global partnerships and programs. He serves as executive director of the McDonnell International Scholars Academy, leading efforts to recruit top scholars from around the globe to pursue graduate and professional degrees at WashU in preparation for careers as future global leaders.

Rodrigo S. Reis, PhD, MSc | Panelist

Professor of Public Health, WashU Public Health

Rodrigo S. Reis is a professor of public health at Washington University in St. Louis School of Public Health. He has held leadership roles at the university, including Assistant Vice Provost, Co-Dean, Chair of the Urban Design and Public Health MPH specialization, and Associate Dean for Public Health, spearheading strategic initiatives around environmental health, sustainability, and environmental justice. Reis’s research centers on physical activity and public health, focusing on community interventions, built environments, active transportation, and physical activity surveillance.

Ozge Sensoy Bahar, PhD, MSW | Speaker and Panelist

Research Associate Professor and Co-Director of the International Center for Child Health and Development, WashU Brown School

Ozge Sensoy Bahar’s research focuses on child and family well-being in global contexts characterized by poverty and associated stressors. Within this broad research program, her research examines the multi-level factors that expose children, youth, and their families to social and economic vulnerabilities, and develop and test contextually-relevant interventions grounded in their experiences. Her current research focuses on the prevention of unaccompanied migration of adolescent girls for labor in Ghana.

Charles Swanton, MBPhD, FRCP, FMedSci, FAACR, FRS | Keynote Speaker and Panelist

Deputy Clinical Director, The Francis Crick Institute

Senior Principal Investigator, Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory

Charles Swanton completed his MBPhD training in 1999 at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories and Cancer Research UK clinician scientist/medical oncology training in 2008. He is a senior Principal Investigator of the Cancer Evolution and Genome Instability Laboratory and deputy clinical director at the Francis Crick Institute. He combines his research with clinical duties at UCLH as a Consultant thoracic oncologist, focused on how tumors evolve over space and time. His research branched evolutionary histories of solid tumors, processes that drive cancer cell-to-cell variation in the form of new cancer mutations or chromosomal instabilities, and the impact of such cancer diversity on effective immune surveillance and clinical outcome. Swanton is chief investigator of TRACERx, a lung cancer evolutionary study, the national PEACE autopsy program, and the TRACERx EVO study.

Jordan W. Tappero, MD, MPH | Keynote Speaker

Deputy Director of Neglected Tropical Diseases, Gates Foundation

A physician epidemiologist by training, Jordan Tappero joined the foundation in January 2018 after completing a 25-year career with CDC. At present, he is focused on the eradication of Guinea worm and the global elimination of lymphatic filariasis, human African trypanosomiasis and visceral leishmaniasis in Asia. He has broad public health skills including: the conduct of randomized clinical trials; the implementation of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and NTD prevention, care and treatment programs; the introduction of new childhood vaccines; developing surveillance systems; and serving as CDC Incident Manager for complex humanitarian emergencies (e.g., CDC’s Haiti post-earthquake cholera and West African Ebola epidemics). He has global health experience across four continents including 14 years residing overseas as a CDC Country Director in Botswana, Thailand, Uganda and Haiti.  At the close of 2017, he retired from the U.S. Public Health Service at the rank of Rear Admiral and Assistant Surgeon General. In January-March of 2020, he was seconded by the foundation to WHO in Geneva to establish a global surveillance system for COVID-19, and he returned in February-April of 2021 to develop WHO surveillance guidance for SARS-CoV-2 variants. He holds three American Board Certifications (Dermatology, Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine) and has co-authored over 270 peer-reviewed publications.

Jay Turner, DSc, MS | Moderator

Head of the Division of Engineering Education, Vice Dean for Education and James McKelvey Professor of Engineering Education; WashU McKelvey Engineering

Jay Turner, a chemical engineer by training, focuses on environmental science and engineering. Turner’s research primarily focuses on air quality characterization and management with emphasis on field measurements and data analysis to support a variety of applications in the atmospheric science, regulation and policy and health studies arenas. 

Gary J. Weil, MD | Speaker

Gerald and Judith Medoff Professor of Infectious Diseases and Professor of Molecular Microbiology, WashU School of Medicine

Gary Weil is the inaugural recipient of the Gerald and Judith Medoff Professorship in Infectious Diseases at Washington University School of Medicine. His professional interests include clinical and molecular parasitology, tropical medicine and global health. Dr. Weil’s research group conducts research on filarial nematode parasites that cause important tropical diseases such as elephantiasis and river blindness. This includes basic research on parasite biology and translational research to develop improved diagnostic tests and treatments. He serves as the Senior Advisor for the DOLF project (Death to Onchocerciasis and Lymphatic Filariasis, Funded by the Gates Foundation). He has received several awards recognizing his outstanding epidemiological and clinical research on neglected tropical diseases.

Mary Woolley, MA | Keynote Speaker

President and CEO, Research!America

Mary Woolley is the president and CEO of Research!America, the leading alliance that advocates for science, discovery, and innovation to achieve better health for all. An elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, Woolley holds honorary doctoral degrees from Wayne State University and the Northeast Ohio Medical University. She has a 35-year publication history on science advocacy and research-related topics and is a sought-after speaker, quoted widely by the national media.