Professor Ko's research centers on the health problems that have emerged as a consequence of rapid urbanization and social inequity. He coordinates a research and training program on urban slum health in Brazil and is conducting prospective community-based studies on rat-borne leptospirosis, dengue, meningitis and respiratory infections. His research particularly focuses on understanding the transmission dynamics and natural history of leptospirosis, which is as a model for an infectious disease that has emerged in slum environments due to the interaction of climate, urban ecology and social marginalization. Current research combines multidisciplinary epidemiology, ecology and translational research-based approaches to identify prevention and control strategies that can be implemented in slum communities. More recently, Dr. Ko and his team has mobilized the public health research capacity at their site in the city of Salvador, Brazil to investigate the on-going outbreak of Zika virus infection and microcephaly. Dr. Ko is also Program Director at Yale for the Fogarty Global Health Equity Scholars Program which provides research training opportunities for US and LMIC post and pre-doctoral fellows at collaborating international sites. Education & Training MD in Harvard Medical School (1991) BS in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1981) Postdoctoral Fellow in Weill Medical College of Cornell University Infectious Disease Fellow in Massachusetts General Hospital Resident in Brigham and Women's Hospital. Honors & Recognition Fellow American College of Physicians (2014) Fellow Infectious Disease Society of America (2008) Special Citation for Fellow-in-Training Infectious Disease Society of North America (1997) Arnold Dunne Award Brigham and Women's Hospital (1992).

Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases).