Alain Bernard Labrique, Ph.D., M.H.S.

  • Joint Appointment in Biomedical Engineering

Research Interests

Hepatitis; Hepatitis E; Infectious diseases; Epidemiology; Micronutrients; Vitamin A; Neonatal mortality; Maternal mortality; Biomarkers ...read more

Background

Dr. Alain Labrique has a joint appointment in health sciences informatics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is an associate professor of international health and holds a joint appointment in epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research focuses on infectious diseases. 

Dr. Labrique’s current research works to define the consequences of hepatitis E infections in pregnant women in South Asia, reduce nosocomial infections in hospitalized neonate, and explore the role of intrapartum infections on pregnancy outcomes and neonatal mortality. 

Dr. Labrique is also working to describe the “trajectories to mortality” in resource-limited settings experienced by women of reproductive age and infants, in order to identify novel opportunities for intervention. Leading an interdisciplinary team spanning Johns Hopkins, Dr. Labrique and colleagues are exploring the potential for mobile information and communications technologies to facilitate timely emergency obstetric and neonatal care to reduce perinatal mortality and maternal morbidity in rural Bangladesh.

He is also actively engaged in designing and exploring appropriate diagnostic and public health technologies, and is the inventor of a number of devices (three patents pending), including the portable field dark adaptometer, a novel device currently being validated as a non-invasive method for vitamin A assessment.

Dr. Labrique received his B.S. degree in biology and his M.S. degree in molecular biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He earned his M.H.S. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Labrique joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2007.

He is the founder and chair of the Global mHealth Initiative at Johns Hopkins. He is a member of the American College of Epidemiology and the Center for Global Health, and serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases. He has been awarded the Johns Hopkins University President’s Award for Excellence in Advising and the National Institutes of Health Summer Institute Fellowship.

...read more

Titles

  • Joint Appointment in Biomedical Engineering
  • Joint Appointment in Medicine

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

Education

Degrees

  • M.H.S.; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Maryland) (1999)
  • Ph.D.; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (Maryland) (2007)

Research & Publications

Research Summary

Dr. Labrique’s research is focused on understanding the mechanisms, both at the disease and behavioral levels, that lead to maternal and neonatal mortality. Building on this understanding, his work seeks to create multidisciplinary partnerships to develop strategies of early identification of disease, and for cost-effective mitigation of the risk factors leading to morbidity and mortality. His research focuses primarily on underserved populations in South Asia, with a concentration on Bangladesh. The underlying discipline bases for this research are infectious disease epidemiology, molecular biology and biostatistics, often supporting the conduct of large community-based epidemiologic studies. 

His areas of research concentration include the interface of micronutrient deficiency and maternal/infant mortality, with a focus on the role of infections; the role of maternal physiologic conditions, as modified by infection, on neonatal outcomes including prematurity and IUGR; prevention of nosocomial infections through mechanistic or nutritional interventions; and elucidating the pathophysiology of specific infectious agents that have deleterious effects in pregnancy and on the neonate, such as hepatitis E or bacterial vaginosis. Dr. Labrique is also interested in identifying and developing appropriate technologies that may assist in early detection of disease.

Lab

Lab Website: Alain Labrique Lab

Selected Publications

Kmush BL, Labrique A, Li W, Klein SL, Schulze K, Shaikh S, Ali H, Engle RE, Wu L, Purcell RH, Mehra S, Christian P, West K Jr, Nelson K. “The association of cytokines and micronutrients with hepatitis E virus infection during pregnancy and the postpartum period in rural Bangladesh.” Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Jan;94(1):203-11. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.15-0238. Epub 2015 Nov 30.

Uddin MJ, Shamsuzzaman M, Horng L, Labrique A, Vasudevan L, Zeller K, Chowdhury M, Larson CP, Bishai D, Alam N. “Use of mobile phones for improving vaccination coverage among children living in rural hard-to-reach areas and urban streets of Bangladesh.” Vaccine. 2016 Jan;34(2):276-83. Epub 2015 Nov 29.

Labrique AB, Palmer AC, Healy K, Mehra S, Sauer TC, West KP, Sommer A. “A novel device for assessing dark adaptation in field settings Neuro-ophthalmology.” BMC Ophthalmology. 2015 Jul;15(1):74.

Heaney CD, Kmush B, Navas-Acien A, Francesconi K, Gössler W, Schulze K, Labrique AB. “Arsenic exposure and hepatitis E virus infection during pregnancy.” Environmental Research. 2015 Oct;142:273-280.

Sikder SS, Labrique AB, Ali H, Hanif AA, Klemm RD, Mehra S, West KP Jr, Christian P. “Availability of emergency obstetric care (EmOC) among public and private health facilities in rural northwest Bangladesh.” BMC Public Health. 2015 Jan;15:36. doi: 10.1186/s12889-015-1405-2.

Academic Affiliations & Courses

Courses and Syllabi

  • Introduction to M-Health and E-Health in Low and Middle-Income Countries (221.649.81)
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    2016
  • Design and Conduct of Community Trials (223.664.01)
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    2016
  • Global Disease Control Programs and Policies (223.680.01)
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    2016
  • Global Disease Control Programs and Policies (223.680.81)
    Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
    2016

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • Fellow, National Institutes of Health mHealth Summer Institute, 2011
  • Johns Hopkins Faculty Innovation Fund Award, 2011
  • President's Award for Excellence in Advising, Johns Hopkins University, 2011
  • Inaugural Member, International Consortium for Control and Prevention of Viral Hepatitis E, 2010
  • Elected Member, American College of Epidemiology, 2010
  • Delta Omega Inductee, 2010
  • Johns Hopkins Center for Global Health Award, 2008
  • Technology Transfer SEED Award, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2005 - 2006
  • The David and Elinor Bodian Scholarship, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2001 - 2002

Memberships

  • American College of Epidemiology, 2000
  • International Society for Infectious Diseases, 2000
  • Society for Epidemiologic Research, 1999

Professional Activities

  • Founder and Chair, Global mHealth Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, 2011
  • Editorial Board Member, World Journal of Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2011
  • Chair, JHSPH Faculty Budget Advisory Committee, 2010
  • Chair, JHSPH GDEC Program Data Security Ad Hoc Committee, 2010

Videos & Media

Recent News Articles and Media Coverage

  •  “Success in mHealth: Shifting Focus From the ‘m’ to the ‘Health’,” Forbes, May 24, 2013 
  • “Exploring the Role of Mobile Technology as a Health Care Helper,” The New York Times, May 13, 2013
  • “Hopkins Researchers Aim to Uncover Which Mobile Health Applications Work,” The Baltimore Sun, March 14, 2012
Is this you? Edit Profile
back to top button