Ben Davis

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Ben Davis is a 4th year PhD Candidate in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research interests include applying geostatistical methods to predict infectious microorganisms in water. Specifically he is modeling the presence and concentration of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in shellfish in the Chesapeake Bay. His experience in food safety, environmental epidemiology, remote sensing, risk assessment and science policy have prepared him to undertake this work and will continue to support him throughout this scientific career.

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EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Expected August 2017     Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Program in Environmental Health Engineering, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore, MD
Dissertation: Characterizing the Spatial-Temporal Dynamics and Human Health Risks of Vibrio parahaemolyticus Bacteria in Estuarine Environments

May 2014            Risk Sciences and Public Policy Certificate, Risk Sciences and Public Policy Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore, MD

May 2010            Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Neuroscience and Behavior, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY

 

 

PROFESSIONAL/RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Mar. 2014 – Mar. 2015    Student Investigator, Center for for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore, MD

  • Conducted an exhaustive literature review comparing the health risks and benefits of consuming raw versus pasteurized milk. Review was requested by the Maryland House of Delegates and findings were presented during the 2015 legislative session (Dr. Keeve Nachman)

 

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May. 2013 – Aug. 2014    Principle Investigator, “Mapping Aquaculture in Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay“, Aquaculture, Public Health, and the Environment, Center for a Livable Future, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore, MD

  • Collected spatial data concerning oyster aquaculture in the Chesapeake Bay. Transformed data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) and performed exploratory spatial-temporal analyses on collected data.

 

Sept. 2010 – Mar. 2012    Post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award (IRTA) Fellow. Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometery, Neuroepidemiology section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD.

  • Performed secondary analysis on the longitudinal cohort AGES. Performed multivariate regressions in SAS to study the effects of moderate alcohol intake on cognition and on brain volume (Dr. Lenore Launer)

 

 

 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Feb. 2016                      Written Testimony. Maryland House Bill 79 – Health – Milk Products – Raw Milk – Consumer–Owned Livestock

Jun. 2014 – May. 2015    President, Environmental Health Sciences Student Organization (EHSSO), Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore Maryland

  • Coordinated and led monthly board meetings, Organized social, volunteer, continued learning, and professional training events for department students, faculty, and staff.

 

 

FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS, AND AWARDS

Sept. 2012- Aug. 2017    Center for a Livable Future (CLF) – Lerner Fellowship, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Sept. 2014- Dec. 2015     Environment, Energy Sustainability and Health Institute (E2SHI) Fellowship, Johns Hopkins University

May 2015                       Delta Omega Scholarship Winner, “Measurement Category”, Alpha Chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Public Health Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

 

PUBLICATIONS

Journal Articles

Davis, B.J.K., Vidal, J. S., Garcia, M., Aspelund, T., van Buchem, M. A., Jonsdottir, M. K., … & Launer, L. J. (2014). The Alcohol Paradox: Light-to-Moderate Alcohol Consumption, Cognitive Function, and Brain Volume. The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, glu092.

Albanese, E., Davis, B., Jonsson, P. V., Chang, M., Aspelund, T., Garcia, M., … & Launer, L. J. (2015). Overweight and Obesity in Midlife and Brain Structure and Dementia 26 Years Later: The AGES-Reykjavik Study. American Journal of Epidemiology, kwu331.

Technical Reports

Davis, B.J.K. , Li, C.X., & Nachman, K.E. (2015). A literature review of the risks and benefits of consuming raw and pasteurized cow’s milk: A response to the request from The Maryland House of Delegates’ Health and Government Operations Committee. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for a Livable Future. http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-a-livable-future/_pdf/research/clf_reports/RawMilkMDJohnsHopkinsReport2014_1208_.pdf 

 

 

RESEARCH FINDINGS TRANSLATION TO INFORM POLICY AND PRACTICE 

Feb. 2015                      Davis, B.J.K. , Li, C.X., & Nachman, K.E. “The Health Risks and Benefits of Consuming Raw versus Pasteurized Milk: A Scientific Literature Review” Maryland General Assembly, Public Health and Minority Health Disparities Committee, Annapolis, MD.

 

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Academic Year 2015-16   Gordis Teaching Fellow, Undergraduate Public Health Studies Program, Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

  • Course Title: Telling Public Health Stories through Maps
  • Course Enrollment: 15

 

 

PRESENTATIONS

Invited Seminars

Apr. 2015                       Davis, B.J.K. “Use of Spatial Statistics to Predict Vibrio parahaemolyticus in the Chesapeake Bay“. 67th Annual Interstate Seafood Seminar, Ocean City, MD

Nov. 2013                      Davis, B.J.K. “Using GIS on the Chesapeake Bay” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s GIS Day, Baltimore, MD

Sept. 2013                     Davis, B.J.K., Love, D., & Curriero, F.C. “Oyster Aquaculture, The Environment and Public Health” Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Aquaculture Division, Annapolis, MD.

 

Scientific Meetings

Apr. 2015                       Davis, B. “Predicting infectious diseases from microorganisms in the Chesapeake Bay” Green Research and Sustainability Symposium, Environment, Energy, Sustainability & Health Institute (E2SHI), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Nov. 2014                      Davis, B.J.K., Curriero, F.C. “Oyster Aquaculture and the Chesapeake Bay: Building a GIS, Exploring Trends, and Generating Hypotheses. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s GIS Day, Baltimore, MD

Sept. 2011                     Davis, B., Vidal, J.-S., Zhang, J., Launer, L. “The alcohol paradox: The effects of alcohol consumption on brain volume and cognitive function in an aging Icelandic population“. National Institutes of Health Research Festival, Bethesda MD.

 

 

 

SOFTWARE AND PROGRAMMING EXPERTISE

Programming Languages
  • R
  • SAS
  • STATA
  • LaTeX
  • Markdown
  • HTML
  • SQL
Software
  • ESRI’s ArcGIS
  • QGIS
  • ERDAS Imagine
  • Rstudio
  • SaTScan
  • SeaDas
  • Microsoft Office Suite
  • EndNote

 

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