Jessica Leibler

Jessica Leilber’s research focuses on environmental exposures experienced by disadvantaged populations in the U.S., including agricultural workers and the homeless. Her work has two central themes: ecological transmission of pathogens through food systems, and environmental exposures experienced by the urban poor in the U.S. Leibler is currently leading a study of antibiotic resistant bacterial carriage among industrial food animal workers in the Midwestern U.S. and transmission of zoonotic bacterial infections from workers to the community. She has published studies identifying the risk of avian influenza infection among industrial poultry workers and farm-to-farm transmission risk of avian influenza in the U.S. Leibler is the PI for a new survey of nasal carriage of MRSA among the urban homeless in Boston.

Leibler actively teaches and mentors students, and teaches Introduction to Epidemiology (EP713) and Infectious Disease Epidemiology (EP755) courses at the School of Public Health.

Leibler is co-leading a project with Wendy Heiger-Bernays that seeks to coordinate and review urban policies on rodent and pest management in large U.S. cities, including Boston. This project is funded with a grant from the Initiative. In addition, Leibler is overseeing an IOC funded graduate student project that seeks to create a mobile shower service for Boston’s homeless population.