Professor Named to “Brilliant 10” List (web article)

Nathan Wolfe, DSc, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was named to Popular Science’s fourth annual “Brilliant 10” list. The list recognizes young scientific innovators who are gaining recognition in their fields, but are still largely unknown to the public.

Wolfe is studying the transmission of infectious diseases from primates to humans through the hunting and butchering of bushmeat or wild game. In May, Wolfe and his colleagues published a study identifying two new retroviruses that have crossed over into humans. HIV is a retrovirus and is responsible for AIDS. Wolfe believes the findings demonstrate the need to regularly survey those human populations known to be in contact with wild animals for new emerging infectious diseases. Wolfe’s research is also the subject of the article “Disease Forecasting” the cover story of the current issue of Johns Hopkins Public Health.

Hope Jahren, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, was also named to the "Brilliant 10" list. Johns Hopkins University was the only institution with two members named to this year’s list.—Tim Parsons