I am a Professor in the Department of
Entomology and Nematology. I live in Davis
with my wife Meg, our son Douglas, and our
two cats Cashew and Peanut. I am a native
of the East Coast, but have moved around
the country during my career. We moved to
Davis in 2017 from Connecticut, where I
previously worked as a research scientist at
the Yale School of Public Health.
I have been fascinated by insects and the
living world for as long as I can remember. I
have a fundamental desire to learn new

We are so excited to present the first episode of our new podcast series: Beyond GDB! I had the pleasure of interviewing the lovely Ipek Eralp, M.D., M.S. PGY-1 Vascular and Interventional Radiology, RUSH RUMC. Listen to our chat to learn about her journey after graduating from the GDB program.

Kyra Toomey graduated from UC Davis in 2022 with a BS in Global Disease Biology, where she made the most of every minute on campus. Kyra co-chaired TEDxUC Davis, spotlighting medicine and innovation on a global stage. She also served as a Public Health Ambassador, Educator and Co-Communications Chair for the UC Davis chapter of Global Medical Brigades, helping to spearhead the organization’s 2021 trip to Honduras where her team educated and provided no-cost critical care to local families and their 2022 trip to Greece serving local refugee populations.

Hello everyone! My name is Lydia Nguyen and I am currently a 4th-year Global Disease Biology major from San Jose, CA. When I first entered UC Davis, I was an NPB major, but I eventually switched to GDB during my second year after learning about the One Health Model in Dr. Sara Dye’s SAS13 course. The One Health Model continues to kindle my interest in the interdisciplinary approach to human, animal, and the environment, applying this perspective to medicine and community health.

Hey Everyone, my name is Akram Khiar, and I am graduating this summer as a Global Disease Biology major. When I transferred to UC Davis, I wanted to do something a little different than a traditional biological sciences major. When I heard about the GDB major and the wide scope of topics it covers, I knew that it was definitely the way that I wanted to go. The One-Health approach and interdisciplinary nature of the program allowed me to see diseases from multiple perspectives such as biology, public health, and epidemiology.

We are so excited to present our new episode featuring the wonderful GDB Peer Advisor (and recent GDB Graduate), Rama Drwich! The title of Rama's practicum project is "Reactive Oxygen Detoxification Contributes to the Mycobacterium abscessus Antibiotic Survival." She completed her project under the guidance of PI Dr. Bennett Penn.

Hi everyone, my name is Michelle Esse, and I am graduating this spring as a Global Disease Biology major with minors in Medical Humanities & Public Health. Within my first quarter at UC Davis, I was already convinced to switch into the Global Disease Biology major. I loved how integrative the program was - I could imagine myself in many different career paths working towards the same goal of advancing healthcare. It provided a strong foundation in the sciences, which I loved, but also a holistic understanding of what shapes community health.

My name is Gio, I am a transfer student from CCSF and am currently in my third year at UC Davis. I was originally a Biotechnology Major, but after taking Disease and Society I decided to change my major to Global Disease Biology. I am currently working towards getting a minor in Public Health.