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Katharine Walter

Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Human Genetics

Pathogen evolution, infectious disease epidemiology, genomics, tuberculosis, Valley fever, climate change

Walter Photo

Molecular Biology Program

Education

B.A. Harvard University

M.Sc. Université Paul Sabatier

Ph.D. Yale University

Links

Lab Page

PubMed Literature Search

Katharine.Walter@hsc.utah.edu

Research

Pathogen evolution creates an extraordinary epidemiological record and poses staggering public health challenges. Our group develops and applies evolutionary approaches to address open questions about pathogen transmission and epidemiological dynamics. We focus on tuberculosis and Valley fever, with the goal of directly informing public health in low-income settings.

References

Selected Publications

  1. HLA Class I Subtype-Dependent Expansion of KIR3DS1+ and KIR3DL1+ NK Cells during Acute Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Infection. G Alter, S Rihn, K Walter, A Nolting, M Martin, ES Rosenberg, JS Miller, ... Journal of virology 83 (13), 6798-6805
  2. Identifying climate drivers of infectious disease dynamics: recent advances and challenges ahead. CJE Metcalf, KS Walter, A Wesolowski, CO Buckee, E Shevliakova, ... Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 284 (1860), 20170901
  3. Incidence and prevalence of tuberculosis in incarcerated populations: a systematic review and meta-analysis. O Cords, L Martinez, JL Warren, JM O'Marr, KS Walter, T Cohen, J Zheng, ... The Lancet Public Health 6 (5), e300-e308
  4. Evaluating strategies for control of tuberculosis in prisons and prevention of spillover into communities: An observational and modeling study from Brazil. TS Mabud, M de Lourdes Delgado Alves, AI Ko, S Basu, KS Walter, ... PLoS medicine 16 (1), e1002737
  5. The escalating tuberculosis crisis in central and South American prisons. KS Walter, L Martinez, D Arakaki-Sanchez, VG Sequera, GE Sanabria, ... The Lancet 397 (10284), 1591-1596
  6. Genomic insights into the ancient spread of Lyme disease across North America. KS Walter, G Carpi, A Caccone, MA Diuk-Wasser. Nature ecology & evolution 1 (10), 1569-1576
  7. Detection, survival and infectious potential of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the environment: a review of the evidence and epidemiological implications. L Martinez, R Verma, J Croda, CR Horsburgh Jr, KS Walter, N Degner, ... European Respiratory Journal 53 (6)
  8. The role of prisons in disseminating tuberculosis in Brazil: a genomic epidemiology study. KS Walter, PCP Dos Santos, TO Gonçalves, BO da Silva, ... The Lancet Regional Health–Americas 9
  9. Whole genome capture of vector-borne pathogens from mixed DNA samples: a case study of Borrelia burgdorferi. G Carpi, KS Walter, SJ Bent, AG Hoen, M Diuk-Wasser, A Caccone. BMC genomics 16 (1), 434
  10. Colonization of the tsetse fly midgut with commensal Kosakonia cowanii Zambiae inhibits trypanosome infection establishment. BL Weiss, MA Maltz, A Vigneron, Y Wu, KS Walter, MB O’Neill, J Wang, ... PLoS pathogens 15 (2), e1007470
  11. Favipiravir for treatment of outpatients with asymptomatic or uncomplicated coronavirus disease 2019: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 trial. M Holubar, A Subramanian, N Purington, H Hedlin, B Bunning, KS Walter, ... Clinical Infectious Diseases 75 (11), 1883-1892
  12. Vectors as Epidemiological Sentinels: Patterns of Within-Tick Borrelia burgdorferi Diversity. KS Walter, G Carpi, BR Evans, A Caccone, MA Diuk-Wasser. PloS pathogens 12 (7), e1005759
  13. Invasion of two tick-borne diseases across New England: harnessing human surveillance data to capture underlying ecological invasion processes. KS Walter, KM Pepin, CT Webb, HD Gaff, PJ Krause, VE Pitzer, ... Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283 (1832), 20160834
  14. Genomic variant-identification methods may alter Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission inferences. KS Walter, C Colijn, T Cohen, B Mathema, Q Liu, J Bowers, ... Microbial Genomics 6 (8)
  15. Phylogeography and transmission of Mycobacterium tuberculosis spanning prisons and surrounding communities in Paraguay. GE Sanabria, G Sequera, S Aguirre, J Méndez, PCP Dos Santos, ... Nature Communications 14 (1), 303
  16. Babesia microti from humans and ticks hold a genomic signature of strong population structure in the United States. G Carpi, KS Walter, CB Mamoun, PJ Krause, A Kitchen, TJ Lepore, ... BMC genomics 17 (1), 888
  17. Excess tuberculosis risk during and following incarceration in Paraguay: a retrospective cohort study. G Sequera, G Estigarribia-Sanabria, S Aguirre, C Piñanez, L Martinez, ... The Lancet Regional Health–Americas 31
  18. All-cause and cause-specific mortality during and following incarceration in Brazil: a retrospective cohort study. YE Liu, EF Lemos, CCM Gonçalves, RD de Oliveira, AS Santos, ... PLoS Medicine 18 (9), e1003789
  19. Molecular epidemiology and evolutionary characteristics of dengue virus 2 in East Africa. S Nyathi, IM Rezende, KS Walter, P Thongsripong, F Mutuku, B Ndenga, ... Nature Communications 15 (1), 7832
  20. Detection of M. tuberculosis in the environment as a tool for identifying high-risk locations for tuberculosis transmission. R Verma, FMF Moreira, AO do Prado Morais, KS Walter, PCP Dos Santos, ... Science of the Total Environment 843, 156970
Last Updated: 12/29/25