SUMMARY OF PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
I am a veterinarian training as a research epidemiologist with a
focus on vector-borne diseases with a background that encompasses
clinical, molecular and quantitative experience. I have extensive
experience in conducting field work and managing data in large
field-based research operations, performing molecular diagnostic work
with arboviruses in both BSL-2 and BSL-3 conditions and with mosquito
colony maintenance. My current projects focus on refining entomological
vector control and surveillance methods for dengue prevention using
spatio-temporal bayesian modeling techniques.
EDUCATION
2018 - present Ph.D. Epidemiology,
University of California, Davis - Davis, California
2013 - 2017 M.Sc. Master in Veterinary and
Biomedical Sciences, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
2008 - 2013 D.V.M, Universidad
Complutense de Madrid - Madrid, Spain
EMPLOYMENT
2018- present Graduate Student
Researcher, University of California, Davis - Davis,
California
Advisor: Dr. Christopher Barker - Davis, California
- As a researcher, I am working on measuring the
efficacy in space and time of ultra-low volume (ULV) indoor spraying as
a vector control measure, to inform the optimal implementation of this
method. In addition, Iam looking at the feasibility of dengue virus
detection in Aedes aegypti mosquitos as a dengue surveillance
strategy.
2021 - 2021 COVID-19 Case
investigator, University of California, Davis - Davis,
California
- as a contact tracer I gained experience collecting
human data and communicating with stakeholders regarding COVID-19, and
performed contact tracing and case investigations of new COVID-19
cases.
2017- 2018 Data Systems Analyst,
University of California, Davis - Davis, California
Employer: Dr. Amy Morrison - Iquitos, Peru
- I was a data manager and analyst for both a
clinical vector control trial (“Spatial Repellents for Arbovirus
Control”) and an NIH funded research project (“Quantifying
Heterogeneities in Dengue Transmission Dynamics”). I managed project
databases and data entry interfaces; wrote computer programming code to
manage, clean, and provide data to research collaborators (in R and
SQL); ensured quality control for mobile data collection via tablets and
smartphones using CommCare; supported daily operations of the
surveillance team in Iquitos, Peru; served as a liaison between
Spanish-speaking project personnel and research collaborators,
especially for the purpose of translating and cleaning data to ensure
data quality and interpretability; engaged in research activity for
academic publications, particularly in development of data products and
documentation.
2014-2017 Graduate Student
Researcher, Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
Advisor: Dr. Rebecca Christofferson - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
- As a researcher I characterized the antibody
response to Zika virus (ZIKV) and Dengue virus (DENV) in mice by:
-evaluating the effect of re-exposure to ZIKV on the neutralization and
DENV-enhancement ability of ZIKV antibodies in C56BL/6 mice.
-characterizing the disease, viremia, pathology and antibody response
caused by ZIKV in IRF3/7 DKO mice
- I also evaluated the vector competence of local Aedes
aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes to ZIKV and
Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), developed and maintained laboratory colonies
of field-caught Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus,
and became adept at working in Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) environments,
where most of my experiments took place.
2012-2014 Undergraduate Student
Researcher, , Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Madrid,
Spain
Advisor: Gustavo Domínguez Bernal - Madrid, Spain
- As an undergraduate student researcher I
participated in the developement of a vaccine against canine
Leishmaniasis using an attenuated Salmonella strain as the infection
vehicle of a plasmid containing Leishmania antigens into dendritic and
macrophage cells.
Teaching experience
2023 Fall Quarter Teaching
Assistant: Experimental Design and Data Analysis in
Pathobiology (PMI 203)
2021 Fall Quarter Teaching
Assistant: Experimental Design and Data Analysis in
Pathobiology (PMI 203)
2020 Winter Quarter Teaching
Assistant: Quantitative Epidemiology II (EPIDEM 203 )
PUBLICATIONS
Louis
Lambrechts ,Robert C. Reiner Jr ,M. Veronica Briesemeister,Patricia
Barrera,Kanya C. Long,William H. Elson,Alfonso Vizcarra,Helvio
Astete,Isabel Bazan,Crystyan Siles,Stalin Vilcarromero,Mariana
Leguia,Anna B. Kawiecki,T. Alex Perkins,Alun L.
Lloyd,Lance A. Waller,Uriel Kitron,Sarah A. Jenkins,Robert D.
Hontz,Wesley R. Campbell,Lauren B. Carrington,Cameron P. Simmons,J.
Sonia Ampuero,Gisella Vasquez,John P. Elder,Valerie A.
Paz-Soldan,Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec,Alan L. Rothman,Christopher M.
Barker,Thomas W. Scott ,Amy C. Morrison,“Direct mosquito
feedings on dengue-2 virus-infected people reveal dynamics of human
infectiousness”, PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
2023
Amy
C. Morrison ,Valerie A. Paz-Soldan,Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec,Louis
Lambrechts,William H. Elson,Patricia Barrera,Helvio Astete,Veronica
Briesemeister,Mariana Leguia,Sarah A. Jenkins,Kanya C. Long,Anna
B. Kawiecki,Robert C. Reiner Jr.,T. Alex Perkins,Alun L.
Lloyd,Lance A. Waller,Robert D. Hontz,Steven T. Stoddard,Christopher M.
Barker,Uriel Kitron,John P. Elder,Alan L. Rothman,Thomas W. Scott,
“Quantifying heterogeneities in arbovirus transmission:
Description of the rationale and methodology for a prospective
longitudinal study of dengue and Zika virus transmission in Iquitos,
Peru (2014–2019)”, PLOS One 2023
William
H. Elson^ & Anna B. Kawiecki^, Marisa A. P.
Donnelly, Arnold O. Noriega, Jody K. Simpson, Din Syafruddin, Ismail
Ekoprayitno Rozi, Neil F. Lobo, Christopher M. Barker, Thomas W. Scott,
Nicole L. Achee^, and Amy C. Morrison^, “Use of mobile data
collection systems within large-scale epidemiological field trials:
findings and lessons-learned from a vector control trial in Iquitos,
Peru”, BMC Public Health 2022
Amy C Morrison,
Robert C Reiner Jr, William H Elson, Helvio Astete, Carolina Guevara,
Clara Del Aguila, Isabel Bazan, Crystyan Siles, Patricia Barrera,
Anna B Kawiecki, Christopher M Barker, Gissella M
Vasquez, Karin Escobedo-Vargas, Carmen Flores-Mendoza, Alfredo A Huaman,
Mariana Leguia, Maria E Silva, Sarah A Jenkins, Wesley R Campbell,
Eugenio J Abente, Robert D Hontz, Valerie A Paz-Soldan, John P Grieco,
Neil F Lobo, Thomas W Scott, Nicole L Achee. “Efficacy of a
spatial repellent for control of Aedes-borne virus transmission: A
cluster-randomized trial in Iquitos, Peru”. Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences 2022
William H.
Elson, Robert C. Reiner, Crystyan Siles, Isabel Bazan, Stalin
Vilcarromero, Amy R. Riley-Powell, Ania B. Kawiecki,
Helvio Astete, Robert D. Hontz, Chris M. Barker, Gonzalo M.
Vazquez-Prokopec, Amy C. Morrison, Thomas W. Scott, John P. Elder, Alan
L. Rothman, and Valerie A. Paz-Soldan. “**Heterogeneity of Dengue
Illness in Community-Based Prospective Study, Iquitos, Peru”.
Emerging Infectious Diseases 2020
Kawiecki,
AB, Mayton EH, Dutuze MF, Goupil BA, Langohr IM, Del Piero F
and Christofferson, R. C. “Tissue tropisms, infection kinetics,
histologic lesions, and antibody response of the MR766 strain of Zika
virus in a murine model”. Virology Journal
2017
Kawiecki,
AB and Christofferson, R. C. “Zika-induced antibody
response enhances dengue serotype 2 replication in vitro”
Journal of Infectious Diseases 2016
GRANTS & AWARDS
2023 Best Poster Award at GeoVet 2023 - Silvi
Marina, Italy
2023 Short Course on Forecasting for
Decision-Making: An Epidemiological & Ecological Perspective
- $1,500 - Fields Institute in Toronto, Canada
2023 Graduate Studies Spring Travel Awards
2023 Designated Emphasis in the Biology of
Vector-Borne Diseases (DEBVBD) Graduate Student Travel Award
2022 Applied Modeling for Public Health (AMPH)
workshop
- Travel funds - Johns Hopkins
2022–2023 Dissertation Year Fellowship
2020-2021 UC Davis Graduate Research Award
2020 Online Summer Institute in Statistics and
Modeling in Infectious Diseases (SISMID) Scholarship
- Attendance funds - University of Washington
2020–2021 Graduate Student Support Program, School
of Veterinary Medicine
2019-2020 Pacific Southwest Center of Excellence in
Vector-borne Diseases fellowship
2018–2019 Graduate Student Support Program, School
of Veterinary Medicine
2016 Hannelore-Storz Travel Award
- $500 - Lousiana State University
2012 Prize for Best Scientific Communication 11th
Congress of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid
2010-2011 Erasmus Scholarship
- One year study abroad program - Justus-Liebig Universität, Giessen,
Germany.
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
2012-2013 Externship Small Animal Clinic Centro
Veterinario Villalba IF - Madrid, Spain
Experience in basic diagnostic procedures, anesthesiology and
surgery
2011-2012 Internship Ruminant Clinic of the
Complutense Animal Hospital - Madrid, Spain
Experience in basic diagnostic procedures and anesthesiology
OUTREACH
Science outreach and diversity
2018-2019 Girls in Outdoor Adventure in
Leadership and Science (GOALS) Mentor
GOALS is a student-led organization at U.C. Davis that promotes
field-based science and leadership skills in femme-identifying high
school students through a free, immersive two-week backpacking trip to
the Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Park. In addition to this trip,
GOALS provides the participants with a one-on-one year-long mentoring
program that participated in. This program is meant to work on the
skills learned on the trip and help the participants with college
applications and questions related to future careers in STEM.
Food recovery and community engagement
2020- present Left Lovers
Left Lovers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to
reduce food waste, encourage food sharing and promote equal access to
healthy food. I am currently on the board of this organization as
treasurer.
2019- present Davis Freedge
Freedges are community fridges with the goal of making food available
to anyone at anytime and to provide a location to leave leftover food
for the community, preventing food waste.
2019- 2022 Davis Night Market
The Davis Night Market is a food recovery organization based in
Davis, CA with the goals of reducing food waste, increasing food access,
building community, and sustainability. It operates by recovering
leftover food from local businesses in the city of Davis and
distributing them freely at the central park. I am heavily involved in
the operational, outreach and fund-raising activities of this
organization.
GRANTS AND AWARDS through the Davis Night Market
2021–2022 Global Food Initiative Fellowship
2020-2022 The Green Fund Initiative (TGIF)
SKILLS
- Statistical analysis (R, R-INLA, JMP, SAS) (tutorial
on modeling in INLA)
- Database management (SQL in both PostgreSQL and MySQL
environments)
- Spatial analysis (QGIS, ArcGIS, R)
- Version control: Git (Github environment)
- Mobile data collection: CommCare
- Website development (Rmarkdown, Gitpages)
LANGUAGES
-Spanish (fluent)
-English (fluent)
-Polish (fluent)
-German (intermediate -B2)