Jennifer Head

Jennifer Head, PhD, MPH, serves as the John G. Searle Assistant Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She teaches EPID601: Principles and Methods of Epidemiology (residential) and EPID674: Epidemiologic Data Analysis Using R (online). Her research focuses on climate-sensitive infectious diseases, particularly fungal pathogens like Coccidioides, Histoplasma, and Blastomyces.

• Education: PhD in Epidemiology (University of California, Berkeley, 2022), MPH in Global Environmental Health (Emory, 2016), BS in Chemical Engineering (Washington University in St. Louis, 2013)
• Research Themes: Climate variability impacts on pathogen distribution, environmental disturbance effects on human exposure, host-pathogen interactions in changing ecosystems

Her work combines mathematical/statistical modeling with field research, including drone-based air sampling and longitudinal soil surveillance. Current projects include NIH-funded studies on population immunity estimation and climate-disease forecasting. She collaborates with federal agencies like CDC and EPA on actionable public health outcomes.

• Scientific Awards: NIH K01 grant, NIH F31 grant, R01 collaboration funding
• Students: Advises multiple MPH and PhD students in epidemiology and environmental health sciences

She leads the Climate-Sensitive Infections Research Group, which has been featured in Science News, The Washington Post, and National Geographic. Recent media appearances include JAMA Network Open podcast and KNX Radio climate-disease interviews.