Professor of Public Health (Raj and Indra Nooyi Chair) at the Yale School of Public Health and Collaborating Researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health.
He served as Chair of the Department of Microbial Diseases Epidemiology at Yale University (2010–2021) and previously worked in Brazil for 15 years in collaboration with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, focusing on research, surveillance, and response to infectious diseases in urban settings.
His research focuses on the impact of rapid urbanization, social inequality, urban ecology, and climate change on the emergence of infectious diseases, particularly in informal urban settlements. He leads an urban health program aimed at understanding these determinants and implementing community-based interventions.
Throughout his career, he has led public health and research responses to multiple epidemics, including meningitis, leptospirosis, dengue, and Zika virus infection and its associated congenital complications.
He is a member of World Health Organization (WHO) working groups on R&D and Zika virus, as well as the Microbial Threats Forum of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as Co-Chair of the Connecticut Reopening Advisory Group and advisor to the state government, in addition to supporting Fiocruz in Brazil’s pandemic response.
