Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Christine Marie George, PhD, is an infectious disease epidemiologist who designs infectious disease control programs to promote health equity and prevent infections globally.
Contact Info
Research Interests
Keywords: diarrheal disease; water; sanitation; hygiene; interventions; cholera; shigellosis; arsenic; uranium; environmental surveillance; community capacity building; mobile health; COVID; SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19
Experiences & Accomplishments
Dr. George is an infectious disease epidemiologist and environmental engineer. Her career focuses on implementing interdisciplinary approaches that promote health equity to solve complex environmental health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and other low resource settings globally. Dr. George has 16 years of experience conducting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) studies domestically and internationally, including directing nine randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of community and health facility-based WASH interventions. Her interdisciplinary research portfolio spans infectious disease and environmental epidemiology, genomics to investigate disease outbreaks, WASH RCTs, environmental engineering to evaluate water filtration technologies, and formative research driven by health behavior theory for the design and implementation of WASH behavioral interventions. Through employing these methods, Dr. George has partnered with communities to design effective WASH interventions to reduce diarrheal diseases and improve child growth in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and reduce arsenic exposure in Bangladesh and in partnership with American Indian communities. Dr. George’s current research activities include directing seven WASH RCTs, and three cohort studies conducted in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and in partnership with American Indian Nations.
REGIONAL EXPERIENCE
North America: Navajo Nation and Strong Heart Study Communities in North and South Dakota; West Africa: Ghana, Guinea, Liberia; Central Africa: Democratic Republic of the Congo; East Africa: Tanzania; South Asia: Bangladesh; Latin America: Bolivia, Peru, Mexico
Honors & Awards
2021: Excellence in Teaching Award;
2017: Johns Hopkins Catalyst Award;
2014: Delta Omega Society of Public Health, Alpha Chapter;
2012: Award for Excellence in Global Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health;
2009-2011: Fulbright Fellowship;
2007-2009: Environmental Protection Agency Star Fellowship;
Select Publications
Dr. George has made significant contributions to public health practice through the development of effective water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions delivered to millions globally.
George CM, Monira S, Zohura F, Thomas ED, Hasan MT, Parvin T, Hasan K, Rashid MU, Papri N, Islam A, Rahman Z, Rafique R, Islam Bhuyian MS, Saxton R, Labrique A, Alland K, Barman I, Jubyda FT, Afroze F, Sultana M, Johura FT, Khan MAH, Tahmina S, Munmun F, Sack DA, Perin J, Alam M. Effects of a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Mobile Health Program on Diarrhea and Child Growth in Bangladesh: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial of the Cholera Hospital-based Intervention for 7 Days (CHoBI7) Mobile Health Program. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2021 Nov 2;73(9):e2560-e2568. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciaa754. PMID: 32761174
Kuhl J, Bisimwa L, Thomas ED, Williams C, Ntakirutimana J, Coglianese N, Bauler S, François R, Sanvura P, Bisimwa JC, Mirindi P, George CM. Formative research for the development of baby water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions for young children in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (REDUCE program). BMC Public Health. 2021 Mar 1;21(1):427. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10246-5. PMID: 33648466
Thomas ED, Gittelsohn J, Yracheta J, Powers M, O'Leary M, Harvey DE, Red Cloud R, Best LG, Black Bear A, Navas-Acien A, George CM. The Strong Heart Water Study: Informing and designing a multi-level intervention to reduce arsenic exposure among private well users in Great Plains Indian Nations. Science of the Total Environment. 2019 Feb 10;650(Pt 2):3120-3133. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.09.204. PMID: 30373089
George CM, Monira S, Sack DA, Rashid MU, Saif-Ur-Rahman KM, Mahmud T, Rahman Z, Mustafiz M, Bhuyian SI, Winch PJ, Leontsini E, Perin J, Begum F, Zohura F, Biswas S, Parvin T, Zhang X, Jung D, Sack RB, Alam M. Randomized Controlled Trial of Hospital-Based Hygiene and Water Treatment Intervention (CHoBI7) to Reduce Cholera. Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2016 Feb;22(2):233-41. doi: 10.3201/eid2202.151175. PMID: 26811968
George CM, Factor Litvak P, Levy D, Islam T, Ahmed KM, Moon-Howard J, Liu X, Tarozzi T, van Geen A, Graziano JH. A Cluster-based Randomized Controlled Trial Promoting Community Participation in Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh. Environ Health. 2012 Jun 19;11(1):41. PMID: 22713347