Group Leader, Applied Artificial Intelligence Systems
Group Leader, Applied Artificial Intelligence Systems

Biography

Lauren Charles is a research data scientist and group leader of the Applied Artificial Intelligence Systems group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Charles is a veterinarian with a PhD trained in public health, epidemiology and zoonotic diseases, as well as mathematics, biology, environmental and geographic information science, plant pathology, and bioinformatics.

Charles' research integrates heterogeneous data sources, e.g., medical records and disease reporting with social and news media, natural disasters, meteorological and climatic data, behavioral and cultural factors, into complex mathematical models to advance current Biosurveillance, event and anomaly detection, threat assessment, and early warning through a one-health approach. Her past research has focused on wildlife population health, epidemiology, ecology, and the interface between wildlife, humans, domestic, and agricultural animals. She currently focuses on One Health and National Security solutions in support of non-governmental and governmental organizations, e.g., State Department of Health, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Agency for International Development, and Department of Energy.

Research Interest

  • Biosurveillance
  • Epidemiology
  • Population Health
  • Data Science
  • Disease modeling
  • Text analytics
  • Spatial analysis
  • Data integration

Education

  • PhD in fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology program; multidisciplinary data science - North Carolina State University (NCSU) and NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM)
  • DVM, in wildlife and zoological medicine; zoonotic disease, population health and epidemiology - NCSU-CVM
  • MS in plant pathology; bioInformatics - NCSU
  • BA in mathematics - Boston College

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Joint Appointment, Research Professor, Washington State University (WSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, Paul Allen School for Global Animal Health
  • WSU Community Health Analytics Initiative
  • National Association of County and City Health Officials
  • International Society for Disease Surveillance
  • American Veterinary Medical Association