Amanda M. Wilson, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Dr. Amanda Wilson is an Assistant Professor in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Arizona. She studies microbial risk assessment, risk perception, and risk-risk tradeoffs: a situation in which an intervention or action decreases risk for one health outcome while increasing risk for another. She was recently awarded a Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (K01) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K01HL168014) to study risk-risk tradeoffs for nurses posed by cleaning and disinfection protocols: increased work-related asthma risk for intensified cleaning/disinfection and increased occupational infection risks for de-intensified cleaning/disinfection. She is also funded by the American Lung Association to develop a risk calculator tool to inform school health decision-making in preparation for flu season and respiratory viral outbreaks in schools. Additional projects include evaluating risk perceptions associated with direct potable reuse in Southwestern metropolitan cities, funded by the U.S. Army, and risk perceptions of workers and surrounding communities/risk assessment of biosolid land applications in Arizona, funded by the Arizona Board of Regents. Dr. Wilson is inspired by multidisciplinary dialogue and works on teams of microbiologists, economists, implementation scientists, clinical researchers, engineers, and more.
PhD Students
Yoonhee Jung, MS
Yoonhee Jung is a 5th year PhD student in the Environmental Health Science program at the University of Arizona. She studied water treatment and disinfection using advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the Environmental Engineering department at Yonsei University (Mirae), South Korea. Her main research interest in her doctoral degree is Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA), Infectious disease modeling, Indoor Environment and Intervention, Risk Perception, and Water Treatment. She published her laundry QMRA research “Evaluating infection risks and importance of hand hygiene during the household laundry process using a quantitative microbial risk assessment approach” in the American Journal of Infection Control (2023). She received the GRA scholarship for One Health research, which is “Risk-risk tradeoffs and risk-perception study associated with cleaning and disinfection (C&D) using “green” products” for the 2023-24 academic year. Her ongoing research involves applying the hierarchy of controls and comparing the effectiveness of various interventions to prevent virus transmission in indoor environments. As a risk assessor and environmental health scientist, she will continue working on the project to prevent pathogens and harmful chemical exposure to the public and make appropriate interventions to prevent public health.
Ahamed Ashraf
Yang Zhan
Tasnim Alshek Yousef
I am Tasnim Alshek Yousef and I am currently working as an Infection Control Nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital. I am studying in the EHS-PHD program at the University of Arizona. I had around 10 years of experience in Infection Control and Environmental Health Sciences, I got my certificate of Infection Control and Epidemiology (CIC) in 2021, and I am preparing to have CBHQ by the end of this month. I am planning to be a Joint Commission Surveyor in the future. I focused on the school program in HVAC systems and air quality in the healthcare setting, and I got my minor in epidemiology.
Mehedi Hasan
Masters of Public Health (MPH) Students
Ariella Capurro Cohen
Honors Thesis Undergraduate Students
Brooke Haley McKalip
Brooke is a 4th-year public health student at the University of Arizona, focusing on environmental and occupational health. Her work bridges the gap between healthcare and public health, aiming to address challenges faced by underserved communities through research, advocacy, and community service. Brooke is currently working on her W.A. Franke Honors Thesis, Particulate Matter 2.5 Exposure Among Tucson’s Unhoused Population, under the mentorship of Dr. Wilson. This interdisciplinary project seeks to bring the nation’s most vulnerable populations into the conversation around exposure science. With a diverse background in public health issues spanning rural health, gender-based violence, and reproductive health, Brooke is driven to merge social science with research to advance health outcomes for all.