Gregory C. Gray MD, MPH is a Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the Departments of Internal Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Microbiology & Immunology, and Global Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Professor Gray received his medical degree, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama; his master’s in public health degree from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; and his bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He underwent residency training at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, District of Columbia. His medical boards are in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Dr. Gray has conducted diverse epidemiological studies of infectious diseases for 25 years in 5 continents. He has authored more than 380 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. His published works have been cited by others more than 20,000 times (H-index 75 by Google Scholar).

Much of his work has involved identifying risk factors for occupational diseases, particularly for respiratory virus infections. He has studied numerous occupational groups including farmers, animal breeders, veterinarians, military personnel, turkey workers, poultry workers, horse workers, hunters, and pig workers. A strong supporter for the One Health approach, he has won multiple One Health research and training grants, helped to established centers of One Health (USA, Romania, China) and developed four graduate programs in One Health (PhD, MHS, and certificates).

Professor Gray is a Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society.

Related links:

• Infectious Disease Web Bio
• LinkedIn Profile
• One Health Website
• PubMed Profile

Jessica Rodriguez is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology with a focus on Genomics and Bioinformatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology with a minor in Biostatistics from the same institution, and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and English Literature from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Over a seven-year period, Jessica has accumulated considerable experience in conducting public health research. Her work has involved wastewater surveillance for microbes, and laboratory adaptation of various molecular diagnostic assays including those for SARS-CoV-2. She also has experience conducting molecular sequencing, running ELISA assays, performing chemical/molecular analysis, and in profiling pathogen biomarkers. She is passionate about addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes for underserved, minority populations.

Jessica is now a Research Associate in the One Health Laboratory at UTMB under Dr. Gregory Gray, and serves as the Editor for the One Health Newsletter.

Ismaila Shittu, MSc, PhD will be a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas. His MSc and PhD degrees were earned in virology at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.  Formerly, since 2005, he worked in various scientific roles at the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Nigeria. 

As a virologist, his research interests include epidemiology, evolution and ecology of zoonotic emerging and re-emerging diseases at the human-animal interface. Dr. Shittu has conducted surveillance, diagnosis and research on viral respiratory diseases including Newcastle disease, avian infectious bronchitis, SARS-CoV-2, avian influenza, and Mpox.

He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles involving different animal species including horses, camels, bovine and wildlife.

He has trained and mentored junior staff, including interns and students from different Nigerian universities in virology and virological techniques.

He is considered an expert in detecting and characterizing influenza viruses found in animals.