CORE - Primary Faculty and Staff

Natalia Cernicchiaro, DVM, PhD

Director, Center for Outcomes Research and Epidemiology | Professor, Epidemiology

785-532-4241

Dr. Cernicchiaro's research focus is on the application of epidemiological concepts and methods, including multi-level modeling and knowledge synthesis and translation techniques, to design, implement and interpret observational and experimental studies pertaining to food safety, zoonoses, arthropod-borne diseases and production medicine. She teaches basic and advanced epidemiology courses and mentors students in the MPH, MS, and PhD programs.

Michael W. Sanderson DVM, MS, DACVPM-Epidemiology

Associate Director, Center for Outcomes Research and Epidemiology | W.S. & E.C. Jones Professor of Epidemiology

785-532-4264

Dr. Sanderson’s research is focused on health, well-being and decreased production in livestock production enterprises, including transboundary disease risk and management. He applies the tools of epidemiology, risk analysis and disease modeling to facilitate optimal decision making. He teaches Epidemiology, Disease Modeling, Beef Production and mentors DVM, MS, MPH and PhD students.

David G. Renter, DVM, PhD

Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs | The Dr. Robert MacDonald Professor of Veterinary Medicine

785-532-4801

Dr. Renter’s outcomes-based research enables valid data-driven decisions to improve animal health/well-being, food safety, production efficiency and economic viability of animal health systems. He teaches epidemiology and mentors students in DVM, MPH, MS and PhD programs.

Christy Hanthorn, DVM, MS

Research Assistant Professor, Epidemiology

Dr. Hanthorn’s research focus is on beef cattle herd health, preventive medicine, and disease outbreak planning and preparedness. She teaches a veterinary course in epidemiology.

Andrea Dixon, PhD

Senior Data Scientist

aldixon@vet.k-state.edu

Andrea received her PhD from the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University, where she focused on population genetics and the evolutionary mechanisms constraining species distributions. She then went on to work as a post-doctoral researcher at Rothamsted Research, using next generation sequencing data to investigate the population genetic structure of a winter-wheat crop weed with known herbicide resistance. Her research interests include evolutionary genetics and applied research focusing on improving animal health and agriculture.

Ashley Thackrah, MPH

Project Coordinator

cricket1@vet.k-state.edu

Ashley received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health from Kansas State University. Her responsibilities include coordinating and tracking activities for the research and training programs of the center, monitoring budgets, assisting with reporting and data management, and providing administrative support for the CORE.