TIE Affiliation

Environmental Research Fellowship

Research

Antibiotic resistant infections are a growing public health concern. They are prone to treatment failure, increasing treatment time, costs, and mortality rates. Insufficient sanitation and management of animal feces in low-income settings exacerbates the risk of transmission of potentially resistant pathogens, or superbugs. The contribution of pathogens originating in animal feces to the development of human superbugs is of particular concern, due to prevalent use of antibiotics in animal production. My research will assess the abundance and diversity of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in human, chicken, and goat feces collected in rural and urban Bangladesh. This study will provide insight on the relative contribution of ARGs originating in chicken and goat feces to ARGs in human feces in Bangladesh. Furthermore, this research will identify whether rural or urban populations are at greater risk of antibiotic resistant infections and explore the effects of ARG presence on human and animal gut microbiomes.

Experience

Jenna is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. She expects to complete her studies in January 2023. Before coming to Tufts, Jenna earned her B.S. in Environmental Engineering from SUNY University at Buffalo, and her M.S. in Environmental Engineering and Science from Stanford University. Before beginning her PhD, Jenna worked for two years as a Data Management Associate for Innovations in Poverty Action. She managed data from over 8,000 household surveys evaluating health impacts - including child development, soil-transmitted helminth (STH) and protozoan infections and respiratory illness - of improved water, sanitation, hygiene and nutrition in rural Kenya. While based in western Kenya, she trained and supervised field and lab staff in piloting field microscopy methods for isolating STH eggs from hands and produce in households. Jenna additionally worked as a Public Health Program Associate for the Environmental Health Department at Emory University, where she systematically reviewed literature on human health impacts of exposure to zoonotic pathogens in poorly managed animal feces. At Tufts, Jenna serves as the Student Advocacy Leader in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department's Graduate Student Organization.

Current Studies and Future Goals

When asked what she found most meaningful about her field of study, Jenna responded with the following: "Antibiotic resistance is one of the major public health concerns facing our world today. While national action plans to combat antibiotic resistance have traditionally focused on tackling antibiotic misuse in the human health sector, domestic animals have been given increasing attention as potentially important reservoirs of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. My research aims to understand this issue from a One Health perspective, taking into account human, animal and environmental contributors. The Environmental Health program at Tufts is a prime example of combining the relevant aspects from the environmental engineering and public health sectors to tackle the interdisciplinary challenges facing today's world".

When asked what interested her becoming a TIE Fellow, Jenna responded with the following: "I was drawn to the TIE Fellowship program's mission to foster interdisciplinary collaborations across Tufts to advance important environmental research. As my field of research relies heavily on cooperation between experts in the fields of environmental science, human medicine and veterinary science, I appreciated the opportunity to work across disciplines and make connections with faculty and students at Tufts tackling similar global challenges with different, but complementary, approaches".

Given her passion for public health research from a One Health perspective and for working to expand access to education for those from underprivileged backgrounds, Jenna hopes to obtain a professorship at the university-level once she completes her studies at Tufts.

Fun Facts!

When not doing school work, Jenna enjoys going on long bike rides or playing golf. She also enjoys hosting dinner parties with friends and/or family, which always includes baking a fresh loaf of homemade sourdough!

Favorite Place You've Visited: Maasai Mara National Reserve (But Jenna missed the Wildebeest Migration and hopes to be able to go back again)

Favorite Thing You've Seen:  A view of the Southern Hemisphere constellations from the Lapalala Game Reserve in South Africa

Favorite Course Taken at Tufts: Econometrics in the Fletcher School

Dream Job: "I once saw a job posting for using genomic techniques to track elephant poachers in East Africa; now I can't stop thinking about becoming a forensic scientist for wildlife conservation efforts!"