#WeAreEmoryEPI: World TB Day, Part 2!
Category : #WeAreEmoryEPI
Welcome back to #WeAreEmoryEPI! This week, we’re highlighting a few faculty members involved in TB research! Read more about Drs. Sarita Shah, Matt Magee, and Sara Auld’s work below. As a reminder, be sure to keep an eye out for events and seminars held by the TB Research Advancement Center until March 28th!
Tell us a little about your academic history/where you went to school.
Dr. Auld: For my undergraduate studies, I was a history major at Stanford before going on to medical school at Columbia University and internal medicine residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital. I then took a slight detour from the traditional clinical pathway and spent two years in the international TB branch at the CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer, before coming here to Emory where I did a pulmonary and critical care fellowship and MSCR program at the Laney school.
Dr. Shah: I spent 8 years in Baltimore for undergraduate and medical school at Johns Hopkins, then moved to New York for residency training in Internal Medicine and MPH, both at Columbia. After residency, I moved to Atlanta to serve as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination.
Dr. Magee: I went to undergraduate school at Grinnell College and then to University of Illinois at Chicago for a MPH. My PhD and post doc training was at Emory.
What are your primary research interests?
Dr. Auld: I have engaged in a range of studies around TB, HIV, and lung health. My main research area (for now) is around post-TB lung disease and better understanding the long-term consequences of TB disease (a la long COVID, but long TB).
Dr. Shah: My research focuses on improving prevention, treatment, and care for people with or at risk for TB in areas of the world where the burden is highest. This includes people HIV, close contacts of people with TB, and pediatric populations. A major goal is ensuring the research question is informed by practical clinical or public health issues so that findings can be translated into policy and practice.
Dr. Magee: I am interested in the relationship between tuberculosis and non-communicable diseases. This interest focuses on bi-directional relationships. For example, understanding how diabetes increases the risk of TB and also how TB increases the risk of diabetes.
How did you fall into the research that you are currently conducting?
Dr. Auld: I happened to meet the right people at the right time and was able to bring in my expertise and background in pulmonary medicine into new areas of TB research.
Dr. Shah: I have always been interested in the most pressing health issues in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), which were largely infectious diseases when I started my training. At the same time, HIV was a major health issue unfolding in the US and around the world during this time, which was something I wanted to be a part of responding to in some way. This drew me to pursue medical training followed by public health training, with a series of events along the way where I was in the “right place at the right time with the right people” that led me to my current research program.
Dr. Magee: During college I first became interested in epidemiology because of Paul Farmer’s book “Infections and Inequalities.” Then I had the opportunity to shadow the state epidemiologist from Iowa. Those early experiences were enough to get me hooked on epidemiology for life.
Are there any exciting projects or manuscripts that you are currently working on that you’d like to share with us?
Dr. Auld: My biggest current project is based in Johannesburg, South Africa where we are enrolling a prospective longitudinal cohort of people with TB to better understand clinical risk factors and biological pathways that are associated with post-TB lung disease.
Dr. Shah: Yes! We just completed a study on transmission of drug-resistant TB (XDR TB) in South Africa and have been analyzing the data. Our goal is to examine where transmission is taking place outside of the usual places one thinks of, such as homes or hospitals. We’ve had several Rollins EPI students working on data entry, cleaning, and analysis over the past few years and it’s been great to see the MPH theses, PhD aims, abstracts, and papers that have come from this.
Dr. Magee: We are working on a few projects related to post TB lung and cardio metabolic health in the country of Georgia. Findings are still in the analysis phase but are exciting to me.
What is your favorite part of being at Emory?
Dr. Auld: Easy. I have wonderful colleagues who believe in the importance of personal well being and work-life balance/integration.
Dr. Shah: The people. 100% the people.
Dr. Magee: The collaborative atmosphere and great people.
Tell us about any classes that you’re teaching/have taught in the past.
Dr. Auld: I am based in the School of Medicine and so much of my teaching happens during clinical rounds in the hospital with medical students, residents, and fellows.
Dr. Shah: I taught GH500 for 2 years and will be teaching a new course in Fall 2024 that I developed with a colleague at the Fulton County Board of Health. The course grew from our collaboration during COVID where we (including several Rollins students) worked hand-in-hand with Fulton County to support the response through case investigations, testing, contact tracing, and analytics. All of these experiences and lessons learned informed the course, which takes a broad look at how to use public health surveillance data (not limited to COVID) for public health response.
Dr. Magee: I’m currently teaching two analytic methods classes in the Masters of Science in Clinical Research Program (MSCR 530 and MSCR 534).
What advice do you have for students?
Dr. Auld: Give yourself time to figure out what you really want to work on and trust that your training and background will open doors for you. Focus on finding a good mentor, rather than a specific project or area.
Dr. Shah: Try not to plan out every next step in your career path. Have a vision and goal, but try to let things unfold and you’ll be surprised at what paths make themselves known when the time is right.
Dr. Magee: Being a good writer remains an essential skill for success. One can always improve their writing skills.
What are three fun facts that you want people to know about you?
Dr. Auld:
- I recently decided I needed new hobbies and so I started playing tennis (again, for the first time since I was a kid).
- Once upon a time I was fluent in Japanese (but sadly, no longer), and am now reasonably proficient in Spanish.
- I am a great sous chef.
Dr. Shah:
- I grew up in Cleveland
- I was a competitive figure skater.
Dr. Magee:
- I like to cook.
- I bike to Emory most days.
- My current favorite author is Haruki Murakami.
How have you been spending your free time?
Dr. Auld: I have 3 kids and so they take up much of my free time, but I try to make space and time for reading novels and exercise/being outside.
Dr. Shah: Traveling. My daughter calls it extreme traveling. We travel a lot!
What is one place in Atlanta that you would recommend people to visit?
Dr. Auld: Poor Hendrix for eating. Sope creek for not-too-far-away hike.
Dr. Magee: Arabia mountain is a great and nearby hike (except in the summer).
Do you have a Twitter/Instagram that you’d like us to plug?
Dr. Shah: @saritashahATL @Emory_TB_Center
Thank you to Drs. Auld, Shah, and Magee for their responses! Stay tuned to see who we talk to next on #WeAreEmoryEPI!
