Hi, I’m Annette — a teacher, a researcher, an epidemiologist, and a mother to a wild toddler.
I initially started this page, because I wanted to share my research with everyone on the web. I also sometimes share my thoughts and opinions on important events in vaccine science. My opinions in my blog are my own, reflect my 16+ experience in the field, and are not representative of the views of any of the institutions I work for or with.
A little about my background: I completed six years of graduate-level training in epidemiology and infectious diseases. I complete a Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology at Emory University in 2006 and a Masters and PhD in Infectious Diseases at the University of Western Australia in 2016. I have lived and worked for federal and state public health agencies in two countries (the US and Australia), including the US CDC and state health departments. After moving back from Australia in 2018, I transitioned to academia and currently teach Epidemiology and Biostatistics to public health students at the University of San Francisco. I also have the honor of mentoring several doctoral and masters students and postdoctoral scientists.
My research: My research mostly focuses on vaccines: how they impact health and how they can be used best to prevent disease. I use real world data to tell us how well vaccines work, to investigate vaccine safety, and identify ways we can increase vaccination rates in the community (particularly among underserved communities). My research mostly focuses on vaccines given during pregnancy and early childhood – although I have recently extended my vaccine work to include teens (which I’m pretty excited about!).
In addition to vaccines, I lead and collaborate on research to improve maternal health, including reducing substance use during pregnancy, investigating the health impacts of birth spacing (i.e., how long should you wait to have another baby?), and how infections affect pregnancy and pediatric health (yes, including COVID-19…but other viruses and bacteria too!).
Welcome to my research space!
Annette Regan 