Maureen H. Diaz PhD, MPH

Dr. Maureen Diaz earned a B.S. degree in biology from the University of Georgia in 2004, where she first established her interest in public health microbiology as an undergraduate researcher performing arboviral surveillance in Georgia. She subsequently earned a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbial Pathogenesis and a Master’s in Public Health from Northwestern University in 2009. Her graduate research focused on the pathogenesis and host response during Pseudomonas aeruginosa pneumonia.

In October 2009, Dr. Diaz came to the Respiratory Diseases Branch in the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where she completed the Association for Public Health Laboratories Emerging Infectious Diseases research fellowship. Upon completion of the fellowship program in 2011, she remained in the Respiratory Diseases Branch as a microbiologist where she has participated in a diverse array of program activities including diagnostic assay development, outbreak response, and laboratory capacity building.

Dr. Diaz has been responsible for the development, evaluation, and implementation of novel diagnostic assays for a diverse array of pathogens, specifically focusing on multi-pathogen diagnostic approaches. She has led the development and implementation of these methods for large-scale international surveillance projects, including the Aetiology of Neonatal Infections in South Asia study, a Bill and Melinda Gates-funded study to investigate causes of infections in young infants in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. Through her experience with ANISA and other international studies, Dr. Diaz brings expertise in specimen collection, transport, and laboratory testing methods as well as management of complex laboratory data to CHAMPS.