PNNL

Lauren Charles, a senior data scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has joined the editorial board of Pathogens. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access journal of pathogens and pathogen-host interactions published monthly online.

“I wanted to join the editorial board to have the opportunity to influence the tone and direction of publications in this domain and to promote solid scientific research contributing to the benefit of the scientific community and the health of the world,” said Charles.

Charles will lend her expertise and diverse background in infectious disease across humans, animals, and plants to the journal. Her responsibilities will entail making final decisions about whether submitted papers are published in her field as well as reviewing other scientific papers. Charles also has the opportunity to serve as the guest editor of a special issue of Pathogens titled “Advances in Biosurveillance for Human, Animal, and Plant Health” which recently opened for submissions.

“My current research focuses on biosurveillance, defined as the process of gathering, integrating, analyzing, interpreting, and communicating essential information that might relate to disease activity and/or other threats to human, animal, or plant health,” said Charles. “I also focus on disease forecasting, and developing innovative, actionable tools to address current and emerging chem and biodefense challenges.”

In addition to her research at PNNL, Charles also holds a joint appointment as a research professor at the Paul Allen School for Global Animal Health, Washington State University, which focuses on zoonotic diseases and One Health. In this role she works collaboratively with others around the world, to promote the use of data science for health-related research that benefits humans, animals, and the environment.