COVID-19 Genomic Epidemiology Toolkit Developer: Glen R. Gallagher, PhD

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Glen R. Gallagher

Division Director

Molecular Diagnostics and Virology
Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory

Glen Gallagher, PhD, provided case study content and assisted in producing Module 2.4 – Superspreading event in a pre-symptomatic population.

Dr. Gallagher is the Division Director of Molecular Diagnostics and Virology at the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory. He has oversight over a wide range of activities supporting the COVID-19 pandemic response from molecular diagnostic PCR to surveillance sequencing and bioinformatics analysis.

Dr. Gallagher completed B.S. degrees in Microbiology and Medical Technology at Ohio State University before completing an APHL Emerging Infectious Disease fellowship at the CDC Dengue Branch. He then pursued a PhD in Virology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

His scientific interests are in developing new methods for pathogen detection and the implementation of next-generation sequencing for public health and diagnostic use.

“The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted a need for communication and collaboration between public health, clinicians, and academic groups to leverage the power of genomic epidemiology fully. Early insights from these studies led to a greater understanding of the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and allowed for the development of evidence-based interventions in real-time.”