Dr. Kelly Baker is an Assistant Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health, and Epidemiology, at
the University of Iowa College of Public Health. Her research aims to improve the selection and
evaluation of water, sanitation, food, and hygiene interventions for preventing enteric infections and
diarrheal disease in children in disease endemic settings. To achieve this aim, her research group
integrates exposure assessment and epidemiology studies to identify environmental transmission
patterns for dozens of enteric pathogen species, and to quantify the impact of interventions on
transmission patterns. Dr. Baker leads the clinical and environmental microbiology outcome assessment
team for the Safe Start study of an infant food hygiene behavior change intervention in Kisumu, Kenya.
She is PI of the joint Market 2 Mouth study that is examining the microbial safety of raw and pasteurized
cow milk food sources in Kenya and assessing the role of food sources versus household hygiene
conditions in enteric pathogen contamination of infant food in the Safe Start study. As a member of the
National Academies Board of Global Health, she advises the US global health policy agenda by calling
attention to emergent issues and knowledge gaps for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and
supporting the Academy in advocating for action on policy needs.