Josh Colston

Josh Colston serves as an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Infectious Diseases & International Health division of the School of Medicine at the University of Virginia, with a primary affiliation in the Department of Public Health Sciences where he instructs the undergraduate Introduction to Epidemiology course (PHS 3104).

His research centers on the epidemiology of childhood undernutrition and infectious diseases, emphasizing socio-economic and environmental determinants in low-resource global settings. Colston employs spatial demography and earth observation (satellite) data to analyze environmental drivers of enteric diseases, emerging febrile illnesses, and the COVID-19 pandemic, bridging public health with geospatial analytics.

He provides critical analytical expertise to large-scale research initiatives funded by NASA, NIH, CDC, WHO, and the Gates Foundation, working under the mentorship of Dr. Margaret Kosek. His collaborative projects focus on evidence-based interventions for infectious disease prevention and nutritional health improvement in vulnerable populations worldwide.