UGA College of Public Health
Epidemiology & Biostatistics
Fall Seminar Series

From research to application: Translating genomic epidemiology from academic settings to public health practice

This week’s guest speaker: Alli Black, PhD, Epidemiologist, Washington Department of Health

The seminar will take place on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. via Zoom (LOCATION CHANGE TO VIRTUAL). Check back for details. Everyone is welcome to attend! For more information, contact Amy Winter.

Dr. Alli Black, MS, PhD, is a genomic epidemiologist passionate about leveraging pathogen genomic data in public health practice, a domain she explores deeply as Senior Epidemiologist leading the Molecular Epidemiology Program at the Washington State Department of Health. Her experience in academic genomic epidemiology includes designing and conducting field-based sequencing studies of Zika virus in Colombia and the United States Virgin Islands, and supporting Ebola virus genomic surveillance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Shifting gears, she helped CDC’s Office of Advanced Molecular Detection develop recommendations for designing an open pathogen genomic analysis ecosystem for public health. During the pandemic, she taught local health jurisdictions across California how to use SARS-CoV-2 genomic data to understand disease transmission and inform public health decision-making. As Director of the CDC-funded Northwest Pathogen Genomics Center of Excellence, she draws on her background in academia and public health to lead a collaborative group of government and academic partners working to translate cutting edge sequencing and genomic analysis approaches into applied public health. She holds a Master’s in Genetic Epidemiology and a PhD in Epidemiology both from the University of Washington.