Jessica received all her education at the University of Pittsburgh, from her BA in Anthropology with a focus on medical anthropology to her MPH and now her work in her PhD. She is a part-time PhD student while she works full-time as the project coordinator for the MIDAS Network, a global network of infectious disease modelers, under the advisement of Dr. Wendy King. Her main research interests are vaccine hesitancy, vaccine equity, and developing infectious disease forecasts that incorporate these factors into them. Jess can be found on Zoom with her “zoo” at home, taking care of her office plants, kayaking, or, when there is not a pandemic, traveling. 

Select presentations

• Kerr J, Shadbolt S, Espino J, Levander J, Stazer J, Contamin L, Cross A, Arcury-Quandt A, Pokutnaya D, Hoccheiser H. The Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Coordinating Center: 2021 Update. Presented at Epidemics 8, November 2021. 

• Kerr J, Stazer J, Levander J, Van Panhuis W. MIDAS COVID-19 Parameter Database Summary. Presented at the MIDAS Network Annual Meeting, May 2021. 

Select publications 

• Rebecca K Borchering, Cécile Viboud, Emily Howerton, Claire P Smith, Shaun Truelove, Michael C Runge, Nicholas G Reich, Lucie Contamin, John Levander, Jessica Kerr. Katriona Shea, Justin Lessler. Modeling of Future COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths, by Vaccination Rates and Nonpharmaceutical Intervention Scenarios – United States, April-September 2021. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021 May 14. Doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7019e3. 

• Kerr JE, Weiss LS, Salcido DD. Simulation of the Effects of Co-Locating Naloxone with Automated External Defibrillators. Prehospital Emergency Care. 2018 Mar 1:1-6. Doi: 10.1080/10903127.2018.1439128.