Kurayi is pursuing his MPH in the department of epidemiology. He obtained my BA with a focus in Biology from Luther College in 2015.  He is an international student from Zimbabwe, but he was born in the Netherlands. He is currently working on completing his capstone project in order to complete his masters in public health. His capstone project focuses on developing an educational board game to help public health agencies teach families about the risks associated with diarrheal disease.

Geneva Wilson completed her MPH at Saint Louis University in 2015 and is pursuing her PhD in Epidemiology at the University of Iowa.  Geneva has always had a great interest in infectious disease and human health going back to her time at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she majored in Biological Anthropology.  Geneva’s current dissertation work focuses on Clostridium difficile as an environmental contaminant in the healthcare setting.  She is also conducting a study to determine the effect of proton pump inhibitor medication on the intestinal microbiome of C.

Eric Kontowicz graduated with his MPH from Michigan State University in 2014 and is currently pursuing his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health. Eric’s MPH work focused on recreating a questionnaire to help evaluate factors and behaviors of HIV discordant partners (only a single member of the relationship is HIV positive), and this experience helped ignite his passion for infectious diseases.

Angela Toepp graduated with her MS in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012 and later pursued a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa College of Public Health, which she obtained in 2018.

Ian Lamb received his B.S, degree from the University of Iowa. His laboratory interests include: western blots, updating chemical inventories, and anything to do with Leishmania induced renal failure.

Dr. Robert G. Schaut earned his B.S. in Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology from Drake University and his PhD in Immunobiology from Iowa State University. At ISU he worked at the National Animal Disease Center located on the North side of Ames. His research focus was on the innate immune responses to respiratory viruses and comparing the differences between atypical/virulent field strains.

Dr. Mandy Larson graduated with her DVM from Iowa State University in 2013 and is currently pursuing a MS in Epidemiology from the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Experiences in her life such as growing up on a farm, travelling internationally through many study abroad programs, participating in the ISU CVM summer scholars program with Dr. Petersen, and participating in the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center externship has focused her research goals on emerging zoonotic infectious diseases and the concept of One Health.

Dr. Grinnage-Pulley’s research interest is in the intersection of microbial pathogenesis and the host immune response, particularly in zoonotic diseases.  Currently she is investigating the role of carbohydrate antigens in the immunologic response to the Leishmania parasite in the laboratory of Dr. Christine Petersen.