Rita R. Colwell
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Rita Colwell is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland at College Park and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, senior advisor and chairman emeritus at Canon US Life Sciences, Inc., and president and chairman of CosmosID, Inc.
Colwell's interests are focused on global infectious diseases, water, and health. Dr. Colwell developed an international network to address emerging infectious diseases and water issues, including safe drinking water for both the developed and developing world, in collaboration with Safe Water Network, headquartered in New York City.
She served as the eleventh director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 1998 to 2004. In her capacity as NSF director, she served as co-chair of the Committee on Science of the National Science and Technology Council. Before joining NSF, Dr. Colwell was president of the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute and a professor of microbiology and biotechnology. She was also a member of the National Science Board from 1984 to 1990.
One of Colwell's major interests is K-12 science and mathematics education, graduate science and engineering education, and the increased participation of women and minorities in science and engineering.
She has held many advisory positions in the U.S. government, nonprofit science policy organizations, and private foundations, as well as in the international scientific research community. Colwell is a nationally-respected scientist and educator, and has authored or co-authored 19 books and more than 800 scientific publications. She produced the award-winning film, "Invisible Seas," and has served on editorial boards of numerous scientific journals, including GeoHealth, which she founded at AGU in 2015.
Colwell has previously served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Microbiology and also as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Washington Academy of Sciences, the American Society for Microbiology, the Sigma Xi National Science Honorary Society, the International Union of Microbiological Societies, and the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).
She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, the Royal Society of Canada, the Royal Irish Academy, the Bangladesh Academy of Science, the Indian Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. Colwell is an honorary member of the microbiological societies of the UK, Australia, France, Israel, Bangladesh, Czechoslovakia, Royal Irish Academy and the U.S. She has held several honorary professorships, including the University of Queensland, Australia.
Colwell has been awarded 62 honorary degrees from institutions of higher education, including her alma mater, Purdue University.
A geological site in Antarctica, called Colwell Massif, has been named in recognition of her work in the Polar Regions.
Colwell has published a new book, "A Lab of One's Own: One Woman's Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science" Learn more here.
Go here to view Colwell's most recent academic publications.
Publications
2019
2019. Metagenome sequencing-based strain-level and functional characterization of supragingival microbiome associated with dental caries in children. Journal of Oral Microbiology. (118):1557986.
2018
2018. Characterization of the Microbiome at the World’s Largest Potable Water Reuse Facility. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2018. Environmental and hydroclimatic factors influencing Vibrio populations in the estuarine zone of the Bengal delta. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. (10)
2018. Spores and soil from six sides: interdisciplinarity and the environmental biology of anthrax (Bacillus anthracis). Biological Reviews. (4):1813-1831.
2018. Comparison of Infant Gut and Skin Microbiota, Resistome and Virulome Between Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) Environments. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2018. Biofilms Comprise a Component of the Annual Cycle of Vibrio cholerae in the Bay of Bengal Estuary. mBio. (2):e00483-18.
2018. Distinct consequences of amoxicillin and ertapenem exposure in the porcine gut microbiome. Anaerobe. 53:82-93.
2018. Occurrence of Vibrio cholerae in water reservoirs of Burkina Faso. Research in Microbiology. 169(1):1-10.
2018. A Metagenomic Approach to Evaluating Surface Water Quality in Haiti. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 1542(10):2211.
2017
2017. Membrane Bioreactor-Based Wastewater Treatment Plant in Saudi Arabia: Reduction of Viral Diversity, Load, and Infectious Capacity. Water. 96046Volume 70(7):534.
2017. Genomic Methods and Microbiological Technologies for Profiling Novel and Extreme Environments for the Extreme Microbiome Project (XMP). Journal of Biomolecular Techniques : JBT. 28(1):31-39.
2017. Beyond cost-effectiveness: Using systems analysis for infectious disease preparedness. Vaccine. 35:A46-A49.
2017. Assessment of Risk of Cholera in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 97(3):896-903.
2017. SYN-004 (ribaxamase), an oral beta-lactamase, mitigates antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis in a porcine gut microbiome model. Journal of Applied Microbiology. (1Suppl 11):66-79.
2017. Vibrio cholerae O1 with Reduced Susceptibility to Ciprofloxacin and Azithromycin Isolated from a Rural Coastal Area of Bangladesh. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2017. CRISPR-Cas and Contact-Dependent Secretion Systems Present on Excisable Pathogenicity Islands with Conserved Recombination Modules. Journal of Bacteriology. (10)
2017. Application of a paper based device containing a new culture medium to detect Vibrio cholerae in water samples collected in Haiti. Journal of Microbiological Methods. 133:23-31.
2017. Characterization of Two Cryptic Plasmids Isolated in Haiti from Clinical Vibrio cholerae Non-O1/Non-O139. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2017. Characterization of Pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus from the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2017. Hydroclimatic sustainability assessment of changing climate on cholera in the Ganges-Brahmaputra basin. Advances in Water Resources. 108:332-344.
2017. Characterization of Microbial Signatures From Advanced Treated Wastewater Biofilms. Journal - American Water Works Association. 109:E503-E512.
2017. Natural Disasters and Cholera Outbreaks: Current Understanding and Future Outlook. Current Environmental Health Reports. (1Suppl 1):99-107.
2017. Comprehensive benchmarking and ensemble approaches for metagenomic classifiers. Genome Biology. (1210)
2017. The microbiomes of blowflies and houseflies as bacterial transmission reservoirs. Scientific Reports. (1)
2016
2016. Recognition of achievement – priorities and process. Materials Today. 19(10):547-549.
2016. Are natural reservoirs important for cholera surveillance? The case of an outbreak in a Brazilian estuary Letters in Applied Microbiology. (3):183-188.
2016. Climate influence on Vibrio and associated human diseases during the past half-century in the coastal North Atlantic. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. :E5062-E5071.
2016. Comparison of inferred relatedness based on multilocus variable-number tandem-repeat analysis and whole genome sequencing of Vibrio cholerae O1. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 36389(12):fnw116.
2016. Strategic Planning in Population Health and Public Health Practice: A Call to Action for Higher Education. The Milbank Quarterly. 94906033(143S2):109-125.
2016. Cross-talk among flesh-eating Aeromonas hydrophila strains in mixed infection leading to necrotizing fasciitis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 11312161268(3321029):722-727.
2016. Modeling Sustainability: Population, Inequality, Consumption, and Bidirectional Coupling of the Earth and Human Systems. National Science Review. :nww081.
2016. Chitin promotes Mycobacterium ulcerans growth. FEMS Microbiology Ecology. 928565871(6):fiw067.
2016. Reduced Susceptibility to Extended-Spectrum β-Lactams in Vibrio cholerae Isolated in Bangladesh. Frontiers in Public Health.
2015
2015. Downscaling river discharge to assess the effects of climate change on cholera outbreaks in the Bengal Delta. Climate Research. 64(3):257-274.
2015. Rapid Proliferation of Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus, and Vibrio cholerae during Freshwater Flash Floods in French Mediterranean Coastal Lagoons. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. (21):7600-7609.
2015. Molecular tools in understanding the evolution of Vibrio cholerae. Frontiers in Microbiology. (e0120311154e00398-13822020380817190)
2015. Use of Environmental Parameters to Model Pathogenic Vibrios in Chesapeake Bay. Journal of Environmental Informatics.
2015. Deep-sea hydrothermal vent bacteria related to human pathogenic Vibrio species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2144666966517):E2813-E2819.
2015. Concordance and discordance of sequence survey methods for molecular epidemiology. PeerJ. (8105394):e761.
2015. Diagnostic Approach for Monitoring Hydroclimatic Conditions Related to Emergence of West Nile Virus in West Virginia. Frontiers in Public Health.
2015. Occurrence and Diversity of Clinically Important Vibrio Species in the Aquatic Environment of Georgia. Frontiers in Public Health.
2015. Non-O1/Non-O139 Vibrio cholerae Carrying Multiple Virulence Factors and V. cholerae O1 in the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. (631):1909-1918.
2015. Environmental Surveillance for Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae in Surface Waters of Haiti. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 92(1):118-125.
2015. Nontoxigenic Vibrio cholerae Non-O1/O139 Isolate from a Case of Human Gastroenteritis in the U.S. Gulf Coast. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. (1):9-14.
2015. Predictive Time Series Analysis Linking Bengal Cholera with Terrestrial Water Storage Measured from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Sensors. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 93(6):1179-1186.
2015. Building Infectious Disease Research Programs to Promote Security and Enhance Collaborations with Countries of the Former Soviet Union. Frontiers in Public Health. 35361632
2015. Satellite Based Assessment of Hydroclimatic Conditions Related to Cholera in Zimbabwe. PLOS ONE. (9Suppl 1):e0137828.
2014
2014. Global diarrhoea action plan needs integrated climate-based surveillance. The Lancet Global Health. 2(2):e69-e70.
2014. Viewing Marine Bacteria, Their Activity and Response to Environmental Drivers from Orbit. Microbial Ecology. (38):489-500.
2014. Occurrence in Mexico, 1998–2008, of Vibrio cholerae CTX + El Tor carrying an additional truncated CTX prophage. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111(27):9917-9922.
2014. Vibrio ecology, pathogenesis, and evolution. Frontiers in Microbiology.
2014. Vibrio metoecus sp. nov., a close relative of Vibrio cholerae isolated from coastal brackish ponds and clinical specimens. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SYSTEMATIC AND EVOLUTIONARY MICROBIOLOGY. (Pt 95616795215116120545121):3208-3214.
2014. Validation of high throughput sequencing and microbial forensics applications. Investigative Genetics. 5(1):9.
2014. Microbial Community Profiling of Human Saliva Using Shotgun Metagenomic Sequencing. PLoS ONE. (5):e97699.
2014. Molecular diversity and predictability of Vibrio parahaemolyticus along the Georgian coastal zone of the Black Sea. Frontiers in Microbiology. 5
2013
2013. Fostering advances in interdisciplinary climate science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (Supplement_114869243Supplement_1):3653-3656.
2013. Drug response and genetic properties of Vibrio cholerae associated with endemic cholera in north-eastern Thailand, 2003-2011. Journal of Medical Microbiology. :599-609.