Education
AB, Middle East Languages and Cultures, magna cum laude, Columbia College, Columbia University, 1993
MD, Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 1998
Professional training
Internal Medicine Residency, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Washington University School of Medicine, 1998-2001
Profile
Dr. Ram joined the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine in 2005 as Research Assistant Professor. She was appointed as an Assistant Professor in January 2008. An internist by training, she began her career in public health as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2001. Dr. Ram served as a medical epidemiologist at the CDC from 2003 to 2005. During her public health career, she has conducted numerous outbreak investigations, participated in the CDC response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as well as the anthrax bioterrorism events of that year. Also, she has extensive international public health experience, primarily in the epidemiology and prevention of diarrheal diseases. She teaches Global Health (SPM 534) and the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases (SPM 513). Dr. Ram also mentors master’s and doctoral students in epidemiology, health behavior, and community health and health behavior.
Research Interests
Dr. Ram’s research interests focus on improving child survival in resource-poor settings. She has worked on the implementation and evaluation of household water disinfection strategies to reduce the risk of diarrheal disease in numerous countries in Africa and Asia. Dr. Ram has studied household case management for diarrhea in Kenya to understand why caregivers of children with diarrhea prefer to use and why health workers prefer to prescribe antimicrobial agents, which are often ineffective, rather than simple oral rehydration therapies for management of diarrhea. She is currently the principal investigator for three studies related to handwashing with soap. One ongoing study is a case-control investigation to assess whether handwashing behavior is associated with the risk of influenza and radiologically confirmed influenza in Bangladesh. The second study, which is also ongoing in Bangladesh, aims to assess whether the risk of secondary transmission of influenza from index case-patients to household contacts will be reduced with intensive handwashing promotion. The third study, which will be launched in 2010, will examine whether acute illness in a child serves as a mediating factor for responsiveness and behavior change following handwashing promotion.
Selected Publications
- Ram PK, Kelsey E, Rasoatiana, Miarintsoa RR, Rakotomalala O, Dunston C, Quick RE. Bringing safe water to remote populations: an evaluation of a portable point-of-use intervention in rural Madagascar. Am J Public Health. 2007 Mar;97(3):398-400.
- Ram PK, Naheed A, Brooks WA, Hossain MA, Mintz ED, Breiman RF, Luby SP. Risk factors for typhoid fever in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Epidemiol Infect. 2007 Apr;135(3):458-65.
- Crump JA, Ram PK, Gupta SK, Miller MA, Mintz ED. Part I. Analysis of data gaps pertaining to Salmonella enterica serotype Typhi infections in low and medium human development index countries, 1984-2005<tel:1984-2005>. Epidemiol Infect. 2008 Apr;136(4):436-48.
- Gupta SK, Keck J, Ram PK, Crump JA, Miller MA, Mintz ED. Part III. Analysis of data gaps pertaining to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections in low and medium human development index countries, 1984-2005<tel:1984-2005>. Epidemiol Infect. 2008 Jun;136(6):721-38
- Ram PK, Choi M, Blum LS, Wamae AW, Mintz ED, Bartlett AV. Declines in case management of diarrhoea among children less than five years old. Bull World Health Organ. 2008 Mar;86(3):E-F.
- Ram PK, Crump JA, Gupta SK, Miller MA, Mintz ED. Part II. Analysis of data gaps pertaining to Shigella infections in low and medium human development index countries, 1984-2005<tel:1984-2005>. Epidemiol Infect. 2008 May;136(5):577-603.
- Naheed A, Ram PK, Brooks WA, Hossain MA, Parsons MB, Talukder KA, Mintz
E, Luby S, Breiman RF. Burden of typhoid and paratyphoid fever in a
densely populated urban community, Dhaka, Bangladesh. International
Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2009.
- Kozlowski LT, Kiviniemi MT, Ram PK. Easier said than done: behavioral
conflicts in following social-distancing recommendations for influenza
prevention. Public Health Rep. 2010 Nov-Dec;125(6):789-92.
- Arvelo W, Blum LS, Nahar N, von Seidlein L, Nahar L, Pack RP, Brooks WA,
Pach A, Breiman RF, Luby SP, Ram PK. Community Perceptions of Bloody
Diarrhoea in the Urban Slum of Kamalapur, Bangladesh: Implications for
Introduction of a Shigella Vaccine. Epidemiol Infect. 2010.
- Ram PK, Halder AK, Granger SP, Jones T, Hall P, Hitchcock D, Wright R,
Nygren B, Islam MS, Molyneaux JW, Luby SP. Is structured observation a
valid technique to measure handwashing behavior? Use of acceleration
sensors embedded in soap to assess reactivity to structured observation.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2010 Nov;83(5):1070-6.
- Ram PK, Halder AK, Nygren B, Islam MS, Granger SP, Molyneaux JW, Luby SP.
Variability in hand contamination based on serial measurements:
implications for assessment of hand cleansing behavior and disease risk.
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 2011 April, 84(4),
510-516.
- Kiviniemi MT, Ram PK, Kozlowski LT, and Smith KM. Perceptions of and
Willingness to Engage in Public Health Precautions to Prevent 2009 H1N1 Influenza Transmission. BMC Public Health. 2011 Mar; 11(152).
Professional Affiliations
Reviewer for: American Journal of Public Health, American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Epidemiology and Infection, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition
Member of American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Faculty Links
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