Maya Nadimpalli

Maya Nadimpalli, PhD, MS

Assistant Professor

Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health

Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

Joint appointed in: Global Health, Epidemiology, and PBEE program

Other affiliations

Tufts' Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance

Previous Positions

Research Assistant Professor and Tufts' CTSI KL2 Scholar, Tufts University, 2020-2022

Education and Training

Postdoctoral training at the Institut Pasteur and the Pickering Lab at Tufts University (now at UC Berkeley)

Ph.D. Environmental Sciences and Engineering at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

M.S. Environmental Sciences and Engineering at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

B.A & Sc Environmental Sciences at McGill University, Montréal, Canada

Read about my research interests here --> Nature Career Q&A

Nabiah Bhatti

BA in Human Health and Biology (May 2027)

Nabiah is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Biology and Human Health. She is currently working on a systematic review investigating the human health impacts of environmental exposures to antibiotic residues, along with Yoon Han and Tiyani Zhou. Her research interests include antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how structural inequities shape access to healthcare. In her free time, you can find her playing tennis or exploring the Atlanta area!

Maria Cardelino

PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences

Maria is a second-year PhD student exploring potential chemical drivers of antimicrobial resistance through leveraging high resolution mass spectrometry. Her research interests include developing methods to characterize the chemical exposome & the microbiome as a mediator between chemical exposures and disease. When she is not working, you can find her biking around Atlanta and backpacking (not around Atlanta).

Rina Das

Postdoctoral Fellow

Rina's research focuses on understanding how environmental and dietary exposures shape the gut microbiome and influence human health. In collaboration with the American Cancer Society, she is examining the association between ultra-processed food intake and gut microbial composition and functional potential using shotgun metagenomic data from the Cancer Prevention Study. Her broader research interests include environmental epidemiology, microbiome science, child nutrition, infectious diseases, and the application of population-based data to identify modifiable factors that can improve health.

Makenna Myrick

MSPH in Global Epidemiology, Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Genetic & Molecular Epidemiology Certificate (May 2027)

Makenna is contributing to the design and implementation of the CUIDA BEBÉ project in Peru, which investigates transmission pathways of antibiotic-resistant bacteria to high-risk neonates in hospital and household settings. She is interested in applying genetic and molecular epidemiology to understand infectious disease transmission and host susceptibility. She is also interested in the equitable delivery and implementation of preventive interventions, including vaccines and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), in underserved and resource-limited settings. Outside of the lab, she enjoys distance running, hiking, and live music of any kind!

Kai Li

BA in Human Health (May 2028)

Kai is a third-year undergraduate in Human Health. He is currently working on exploring new indices for quantifying changes in gut microbial composition in response to mixed medication intake. His research interests include long-term health effects stemming from the gut microbiome as well as environmental determinants of health. You might find him taking a light nap at Cox or misplacing his iPad again somewhere on campus.

Lainey Render

MPH in Global Environmental Health, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Certificate (May 2027)

Lainey is a second-year MPH student working on the CUIDA-BEBE project to investigate household-level risk factors for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in high-risk neonates in peri urban Lima. She is interested in the intersection of the built environment and public health, specifically how civil infrastructure can support healthy and sustainable populations. Outside of work, she likes to run, hike, and spend time outside.

Tianyi Zhou

BA in Human Health & Quantitative Science Minor (May 2027)

Tianyi is a senior undergraduate student at Emory University majoring in Human Health with a minor in Quantitative Science. She is currently working on a systematic review investigating the human health impacts of environmental exposures to antibiotic residues. Her academic interests focus on environmental health and nutrition & health sciences. She is particularly interested in how environmental exposures and dietary factors influence human microbiomes and long-term health outcomes.

Recent grads

Lorraine Vitek, MPH in Global Epidemiology (May 2026). Currently a Resident Physician in Internal Medicine at UC San Diego.

Yoon Han, MPH in Environmental Health (May 2026).

Addison Deisher, MPH in Global Health (May 2026).

Natalie Olson, PhD in Environmental Health Sciences (August 2025). Currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Université de Montpellier, France.

Courtney Victor, Postdoctoral Fellow (June 2025). Currently an EIS officer in the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion at the US CDC.

Anne Marie Dye, MPH in Environmental Health & Epidemiology (May 2025). Currently a consultant at PMAlliance.

Sweta Balaji, BS in Quantiative Health Sciences (Dec 2024). Currently a MPH student in Biomedical Informatics at Ohio State University.

Cameron Goetgeluck, MPH in Environmental Health & Epidemiology, Certificate in Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology (May 2024). Currently a Rollins Outbreak Analytics Fellow at the Georgia Department of Health.

Shayna Matson, MPH in Global Environmental Health (May 2024). Currently at Alaska Department of Public Health as a Disease Intervention Specialist.

Chanda Mwansa, MPH in Global Health (May 2024). Currently an intern at the PAHO Eastern Caribbean country office on the Communicable Disease Prevention, Control and Elimination team.

Addison Blackmon, MPH in Epidemiology (May 2024). Currently a CDC National Health Care Safety Network Support Fellow.

Dania Hussain, MPH in Global Environmental Health (May 2023). Currently an ORISE fellow at the CDC in the Clinical and Environmental Microbiology Branch.

Lily McNulty, MPH in Global Health, concentration in infectious disease (May 2023). Currently at NORC at the University of Chicago.

Oluwatosin Olojo, MPH in Epidemiology, Infectious Disease certificate (May 2023).

July 2026: GFE recipents Lainey Render and Makenna Myrick making sure CUIDA BEBE is off to a smooth start in Lima, Peru. Congrats to Yoon Han (MPH, Environmental Health) for winning an ILE Excellence Award and to our other excellent graduates, Lorraine Vitek (MPH in Global Epidemiology) and Addison Deisher (MPH Global Health)!

June 2025: Launching KukuSafe in Burma Market with great partners at the University of Nairobi. And, congrats to recent grads Sweta Balaji (BS Quantitative Sciences) and Natalie Olson (PhD Environmental Health Sciences)!

Spring 2024: Congrats to our graduating students Shayna Matson (MPH Global Environmental Health), Samson Alemu Argaw (MPH Global Health), Cameron Goetgeluck (MPH Environmental Health), Chanda Mwansa (MPH Global Health), and Addison Blackmon (MPH Epidemiology)

Spring 2024: Lab hike to see the seasonal diamorpha bloom at Arabia Mountain (left), and welcoming Dr. Miguel Salazar, Fulbright Fellow from the Philippines, to the lab (right)!

Spring 2023: Beautiful day in Atlanta for a lab social! Congratulations to our graduating students Tosin Olojo (MPH Epidemiology), Dania Hussain (MPH Environmental Health), and Lily McNulty (MPH Global Health)

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