Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

Dr. Roess is a professor of Global Health and Epidemiology at George Mason University's College of Public Health, Department of Global and Community Health. She is an epidemiologist with expertise in infectious diseases epidemiology, multi-disciplinary and multi-species field research and evaluating interventions to reduce the transmission and impact of infectious diseases. Dr. Roess currently oversees several longitudinal studies to understand emergence and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases globally, including the emergence and transmission of Campylobacter (with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), MERS-CoV (with support from the US National Science Foundation), and the development of the microbiome during the first year of life. She studies breastfeeding patterns and their association with future health disparities and has also studied the impact of hurricanes on morbidity and mortality in the United States, links between food animal production and emerging infectious and zoonotic disease emergence globally, and mHealth (especially apps) technology integration and evaluations to reduce the impact of infectious diseases outbreaks, promote health care and health reduce disparities. 

Dr. Roess holds a PhD in global disease epidemiology and control from Johns Hopkins University.  Her current studies are in the US, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Prior to joining academia, Dr. Roess served as the Science Director for the Pew Commission on Industrial Food Animal Production at Johns Hopkins, and was an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) officer at the CDC.  She has served as consultant for the United States Agency for International Development, the World Bank, and Westat Inc.  She has a master degree from the UMDNJ/ Rutgers University School of Public Health.

Research

Research Interests

• Infectious disease epidemiology
• Multi-disciplinary and multi-species field research
• Evaluating interventions to reduce the transmission and impact of infectious diseases

Select Publications

• Schindler-Ruwisch, J., Roess, A., Robert, R. C., & Napolitano, M. (2019). Limitations of Workplace Lactation Support: The Case for DC WIC Recipients. Journal of Human Lactation, 0890334419887369.

• Obaidat, M. M., Malania, L., Imnadze, P., Roess, A.A., Bani Salman, A.E., & Arner, R.M. (2019). Seroprevalence and Risk Factors for Coxiella burnetii in Jordan. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 101(1): 40-44. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.19-0049

• Sandberg, J., Santos-Burgoa, C., Roess, A., Golman-Hawes, A., Perez, C.M., Garcia-Meza, A., & Goldman, L.R. (2019). The Authors Respond. Epidemiology. 30(6): e36-e37. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001098

• Colon-Ramos, U., Roess, A.A. Robien, K., Marghella, P.D., Waldman, R.J., & Merrigan, K.A. (2019). Foods distributed during federal disaster relief response in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María did not fully meet federal nutrition recommendations. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2019.03.015

• Obaidat, M. M., & Roess, A. A. (2019). Nationwide seroprevalence, spatial distribution and risk factors of Leishmania in Jordan. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine, 9(6), 227. doi: 10.4103/2221-1691.260394

• Schindler-Ruwisch, J., Roess, A.A., Robert, R.C., Napolitano, M., Woody, E., Thompson, P., & Ilakkuvan, V. (2019). Determinants of Breastfeeding Initiation and Duration Among African American DC WIC Recipients: Perspectives of Recent Mothers. Women's Health Issues. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2019.07.003

• Obaidat, M. M., & Roess, A. A. (2019). First nationwide seroepidemiology and risk factors report of        Helicobater pylori in Jordan. Helicobacter. https://doi.org/10.1111/hel.12572

• Sandberg, J., Santos-Burgoa, C., Roess, A., Goldman-Hawes, A., Pérez, C. M., Garcia-Meza, A., & Goldman, L. R. (2019). All over the place? Differences in and consistency of excess mortality estimates in Puerto Rico after hurricane Maria. Epidemiology. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000000970 PMID: 30640732

• Noykhovich, E., Mookherji, S., & Roess, A. (2019). The risk of Tuberculosis among populations living in slum settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Urban Health. doi:10.1007/s11524-018-0319-6 PMID: 30341562

• Roess, A.A. Lahm, A.A. Kabbash, I.A. Saad-Hussein, A. Shaalan, A., Rasslan, O., & Mohamed, M. (2018). Responding to emerging diseases requires multi-disciplinary and one health training, Egypt.  Annals of Global Health, 84(4), 650–653. doi: 10.29024/aogh.2372

Affiliations

• Member

  Member since 2017
  American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• Member

  Member since 2004 
  American Research Center for Egypt, DC
• Member

  Member since 2001
  International Society for Infectious Diseases
• Board Member, Member

  Public Health Student Caucus Board Member 2004-2005 Member since 1999
  American Public Health Association
• Member

  Member 2004-2012
  Global Health Council
• Member

  Member 2000-2003
  Hopkins, IRB Committee for Health and Human Research
• Member

  Member 2000-2005
  Hopkins Health and Human Rights Student Group

Degrees

• PhD, Global Disease Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University
• MPH, Public Health, Rutgers University