One Health Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University

Research Focus

Research in the One Health Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University examines the interface of bacteria and hosts to reduce microbe-mediated disease in humans and animals. We apply the principles of one health and microbial ecology, evaluating target microbes and bacterial genes specifically and the larger microbial community (microbiome) broadly.

We also evaluate non-infection outcomes, specifically asthma, from exposure to bacterial agents and their toxic products.

• Asthma
• One Health
• Household Microbiology
• Antimicrobial Resistance and Bacterial Genetics
• Food Animal Workers and Rural Communities

Research Goal

Designing and testing interventions to combat the rise of bacterial antimicrobial resistance and both infection and non-infection outcomes related to microbial exposures in a one health context is the goal of our lab.

Work in Inner-city Baltimore

Lab PI Dr. Meghan Davis is a native of Baltimore City. The One Health Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University works on multiple projects to promote the health of inner-city Baltimore children and adults who have asthma. This work is in partnership with the School of Medicine and the BREATHE Center (formerly the Center for Childhood Asthma in the Urban Environment.) Our work evaluates whether colonization or environmental exposure to bacteria, specifically certain strains of Staphylococcus aureus, contribute to asthma exacerbations through an allergic mechanism.

Children who live in inner-city households of low economic means suffer disproportionately from skin and lung diseases, including asthma. This study will evaluate the burden of skin and respiratory disease among the dogs who live with them, through The City Dog Study: Dermatologic and Respiratory Disease among Inner-City Dogs Living in the Homes of Children with Asthma. We also evaluate the health of pet dogs living with these children as part of the City Dog Study. Understanding how the health of people and their pets each is influenced by the other and by their shared environments will help us provide better medical and veterinary care to under-served communities and deliver more effective public health services.

Research Projects

• PETS Study
• Center for One Health Research (COHERE)
• Animal Assisted Therapy
• Animal Visitation Chlorhexidine Trial
• Airweighs
• Baltimore Healthy Schools Project
• City Dog Study
• Environmental Control as Add-on Therapy in Childhood Asthma
• Mobility Asthma Project
• NEC Dairy Farm Project
• The Johns Hopkins P.O.E. Total Worker Health® Center (POE Center)
• Practical Ethics
• Vector-borne Diseases in Travelers
• Veterinary and Animal Care Workers' Perceived Risk and Willingness to Respond to the Coronavirus Pandemic (CoVET)
• Assessing Animal Shelter and Rescue Group Stakeholders’ Community Support Measures and Animal Population Data, during the Coronavirus Pandemic (CoWelf)
• COVID-19 Human-Animal Interactions Survey (CHAIS)
• The Minority Pet-owner Health Project (MPOH): Investigating effects of demographic-disparities, racism, and the human-animal bond on minority health