Kathryn Dalton, VMD, MPH
Kathryn Dalton, VMD, MPH (Grant 02525-E)
Mentor: Meghan R. Davis, DVM, MPH, PhD; Johns Hopkins University
Kathryn Dalton, VMD MPH, is pursuing her PhD in Environmental Epidemiology at The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, in the laboratory of Dr. Meghan Davis. Dr. Dalton received her VMD degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine in 2013 and her Masters of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in 2016.
Dr. Dalton’s work focuses on evaluating and modifying existing animal assisted therapy (AAT) programs to minimize the direct risks of hospital-associated infections (HAI) to therapy animals, and indirectly reduce the risk for these animals to serve as mechanical vectors of HAIs to patients. Exposure to HAIs is a health risk for patients and therapy animals, and reduction of that risk will improve human and animal health by preventing colonization and infection. If a program modification can reduce the risk of microbial sharing among therapy animals and patients participating in these programs, this work will enhance AAT program sustainability and promote the human-animal bond. Dr. Dalton’s team is also evaluating the bacterial carriage of inner city dogs in homes with asthmatic children, as part of an ongoing study exploring environmental determinants of asthma. This data will be integrated with data from the AAT study, as well as future One Health projects, to better understand the role of animal microbiota in animal and human health outcomes.
Dr. Dalton’s mentor, Dr. Davis, is a CHF-funded investigator; read about her CHF-funded grant here:
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