Kerlly J. Bernabé, MPH

Kerlly Bernabe is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Tropical Medicine. She earned a MPH in epidemiology from Boston University School of Public Health. She enjoys conducting patient-focused research and translating findings to inform public health policy. 

Her training is in applied statistics with experience in infectious disease epidemiology, pediatric health and environmental exposure assessment. Kerlly's passion for clinical research began collecting field data for the Traffic-associated Air Pollution & Asthma Study (TAPAS) at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. As a research technician, she set-up home monitors that measured common air pollutants, such as particulate matter and elemental carbon, and conducted surveys with study participants to assess exposure to phthlates. Then, she joined Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)/Doctors Without Borders-USA and worked on research projects related to Chagas disease and HIV/AIDS.  As research assistant to the Infectious Disease Advisor, she published and analyzed the data for a study on the epidemiology and management of drug-resistant infections in MSF patients. She also authored a systematic review and meta-analysis on antimicrobial resistance in West Africa, related to common invasive bacterial infections in the region. 

Prior to joining Tulane, she was clinical research coordinator to the Chief of Pediatric Surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital (NYP) - Weill Cornell Medicine. She managed databases and published surgical outcomes for the Centers of Excellence for Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia. She collected study data and co-authored publications for a multi-site, NIH study. While at NYP, she also trained medical residents during their clinical research year.