Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future Announces Fellowship Grants

CLF Fellows (l to r): Anant Murthy, Keeve Nachman, Lance B. Price and David Colquhoun

For the second year, the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has awarded four fellowships for doctoral study at Johns Hopkins University. The awards, in amounts up to $50,000, are given to Johns Hopkins doctoral students who are committed to the discovery or application of knowledge about the environmental, economic and social and health impacts of industrial animal production practices. The grant can be used for tuition, stipend and research expenses. The recipients of this year’s fellowships are as follows:

David Colquhoun is a second-year doctoral student in the School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences. He earned his bachelor of science in microbiology from the University of Sunderland in England and his master of science from Michigan Technological University. His doctoral work will focus on using proteomics to analyze environmental pathogens associated with concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) by determining the source of microbial pathogens and how they move through the environment.

Colquhoun’s interests stem from a background in environmental microbiology and the interaction between micro-organisms, the environment and humans. Colquhoun is currently utilizing mass spectrometric techniques for the analysis of microbes released from concentrated animal feeding operations. The overall goal is to develop a method to better characterize the microbial burden associated with CAFOs and their waste streams. Colquhoun’s doctoral advisor is Rolf Halden, PhD, PE, assistant professor in Environmental Health Sciences.

Anant S. Murthy is a first-year doctoral student in the School’s Department of International Health. He earned his bachelor of arts at the University of Rochester with a double major in Health and Society and Political Science and a master of science in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His doctoral work will focus on economic evaluation of the public health consequences of industrial animal production, international trade in agriculture and rural development.

Murthy’s interests in public health, economic analysis and policy have led to his multidisciplinary research goal to analyze the benefits and costs of industrial animal production and the current regulatory framework. His hope is to develop economic evaluation techniques that will help guide policymakers’ decision in the future. Murthy’s doctoral advisor is Kevin D. Frick, PhD, associate professor in Health Policy and Management and International Health.

Keeve E. Nachman is a third-year student in the School’s Department of Health Policy and Management. He earned his bachelor of arts from Johns Hopkins University and master of health science in Environmental Health Sciences from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His doctoral work will focus on the environmental and public health impacts associated with exposure to arsenic used in the industrial production of poultry.

Nachman’s interest in public health impacts of factory farming along with his knowledge of environmental health policy analysis and environmental risk assessment methods has led to his current thesis topic. He plans to investigate the health impacts associated with exposure to arsenic from land application or incineration of poultry litter containing arsenical compounds currently used as antimicrobials in industrial poultry production on the Delmarva Peninsula and elsewhere. Nachman’s doctoral advisors are Thomas A. Burke, PhD, MPH, professor and associate chair of Health Policy and Management at the School of Public Health, and Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD, professor in Environmental Health Sciences.

Lance B. Price is a second-year doctoral student in the School’s Department of Environmental Health Sciences. He earned his bachelor of science and master of science in biology and microbiology from Northern Arizona University. His doctoral work will focus on the application of molecular and environmental microbiology to study the impacts of industrial animal production.

Price became interested in the environmental consequences of CAFOs when his grandparents’ ranch in Texas was affected by an adjacent CAFO dairy. Mr. Price will investigate the health risks associated with antibiotic use in industrial animal production including dispersal of antibiotic resistance genes into the environment and antibiotic resistance among family contacts of poultry workers. His advisor is also Dr. Silbergeld.