Ozair Naqvi, Ph.D., is a recent doctoral graduate from the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Hudson College of Public Health, earning his PhD in May 2023. His academic and professional work focuses on applied public health practice, with particular interests in infectious disease, emergency preparedness, and implementation science.
He previously completed his MS in Epidemiology at the Hudson College of Public Health in 2018 and went on to serve as a communicable disease epidemiologist at the Oklahoma State Department of Health. In that role, Dr. Naqvi investigated over 44 state-reportable conditions and was actively involved in 16 outbreak responses—including COVID-19, Mpox, and EVALI.
During his doctoral studies, he worked as a graduate research assistant on two federally funded projects aimed at improving health literacy among vulnerable populations in Oklahoma City. These initiatives emphasized trust-building and partnerships with community-based organizations to ensure that individuals could access, understand, and use health information to make informed decisions.
Dr. Naqvi is an accomplished scholar, with seven peer-reviewed publications related to infectious disease in leading journals such as Pediatrics and MMWR. He also demonstrated strong leadership in student life, serving as President of the Biostatistics and Epidemiology Student Association and Vice President of the College of Public Health Student Association—connecting students to research opportunities, interdisciplinary collaborations, and service efforts across the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Most recently, Dr. Naqvi was accepted into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)—a prestigious and highly competitive two-year postdoctoral fellowship. As an EIS officer, he joins the ranks of the nation’s “disease detectives,” working to identify, investigate, and respond to public health threats in the U.S. and beyond.