Dr.
Johns Hopkins School of Public Health
Dr. Laura Hammitt is an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where she is the Director of Infectious Disease Prevention Programs at the Center for American Indian Health (CAIH). Prior to joining the faculty at Hopkins, Dr. Hammitt completed the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service training program at the Arctic Investigations Program in Alaska, during which time she studied diseases that cause disproportionate morbidity and mortality in Alaska Native individuals including Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. After completing a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital in Colorado in 2008, Dr. Hammitt relocated to Kilifi, Kenya where she worked as a pediatrician and epidemiologist, leading studies on the etiology of childhood pneumonia, population immunity to Hib disease, and the population impact of pneumococcal vaccination. She joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins in 2011 and is based in southwest Colorado near the CAIH offices on the Navajo and White Mountain Apache tribal lands. Her research focuses on infectious disease epidemiology and the evaluation of interventions to reduce the burden of disease in underserved communities. Her particular interests are respiratory infections (pneumonia, RSV), pneumococcal disease, Group A Strep infection, Haemophilus influenzae and Staphylococcus aureus. Dr. Hammitt has served as the Covid-19 Testing Coordination team lead for the Navajo Nation and she has provided technical assistance in support of the COVID-19 response efforts of several other tribes. Embedded in her work is a commitment to community-driven research and capacity building. Outside of work, she takes every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with her husband, daughter and dog.