Ozioma Forstinus Nwabor

Ozioma is an MPH student with a Ph.D. in microbiology and over a decade of research experience in life sciences. He has been actively involved in infectious disease research since 2013 and previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher for four years in both Thailand and at Syracuse University.

His research spans laboratory and translational projects, including monitoring multidrug-resistance genes in Gram-negative ICU isolates in Southern Thailand, developing a hemolysis-based rapid test for detecting Listeria monocytogenes, and evaluating breast implant prototypes for bacterial susceptibility and biofilm clearance by human phagocytic macrophages.

During Ozioma's MPH training, he shifted toward population-level and surveillance-focused research, working as a graduate research assistant on projects such as correlating wastewater norovirus concentrations with hospitalizations, tracking H5 influenza trends in New York state, and linking these patterns to temporal changes in bird abundance.

He has also contributed to systematic review and meta-analysis work, including applying Bayesian latent class modeling to evaluate the reliability of Hepatitis E diagnostic test methods, and is currently leading a second review focused on Hepatitis E trends in wastewater.

Ozioma is collaborating with the county health department on a mosquito and arbovirus surveillance project, analyzing a decade of mosquito abundance and arbovirus detection data to support evidence-based public health decision-making. His goal is to apply these skills and experiences toward a career in evidence-based public health interventions and policymaking.

Data-driven design, evaluation and improvement of public health interventions and policies to advance population health