Cecilia A. Sánchez

Dr. Cecilia A. Sánchez is a Researcher and Data Scientist affiliated with Yale School of Public Health's Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases department and the Carlson Lab. She holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia and a BS in Biology from Yale University. Her work focuses on viral ecology, wildlife health, and emerging zoonotic diseases, with emphasis on bat-related pathogens and urban wildlife health risks. She previously worked at EcoHealth Alliance analyzing spillover risks in Southeast Asia. Dr. Sánchez has published extensively on topics such as bat infection dynamics, rodent-borne pathogens, and ecohealth frameworks. She received the 2021 Robert C. Anderson Memorial Award for her contributions to microbial epidemiology.

Research Interests: Dr. Sánchez investigates intersections between ecology and public health, particularly how environmental changes and human activities drive zoonotic disease transmission. Her work spans viral spillover mechanisms, urban wildlife health, and the application of data science to epidemiological modeling. Key areas include:

• Ecological drivers of bat-borne virus dynamics
• Anticoagulant rodenticide impacts on urban pest pathogens
• Socio-environmental correlates of zoonotic spillover
• One Health approaches to wildlife-human interfaces

Publications: Her recent work includes studies on bat infection dynamics (2024), SARS-CoV spillover risk assessment in Southeast Asia (2022), and urban rat zoonosis (2021). Methodological contributions include meta-analyses of wildlife health-urbanization relationships (2019) and reviews synthesizing spillover mechanisms (2021).

Awards: The 2021 Robert C. Anderson Memorial Award recognizes her innovative research at the ecology-public health interface.

Labs/Teams: Active in the Carlson Lab and collaborating with the Verena Institute to develop open data infrastructure for infectious disease research.