Faculty Spotlight - Dr. Fanta D. Gutema
Q&A with Fanta D. Gutema, DVM, MSc, BSc, MPH, PhD, CPH
Assistant Research Professor
1. What brought you to the U of M School of Public Health?
Before joining the University of Memphis, I held faculty positions at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, where I was promoted to Associate Professor, and then completed postdoctoral training in Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, Iowa. I joined the U of M School of Public Health because it provides an excellent opportunity to integrate my multidisciplinary background in animal health, public health, food safety, and environmental health. I was also attracted to the School’s SPH CARES mission, particularly its emphasis on community engagement, research-based solutions, innovation, and student-centered education. These priorities strongly align with my One Health research on infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental health, while creating opportunities to build interdisciplinary collaborations and contribute to public health priorities in Memphis and globally.
2. What is your research interest and focus?
My research focuses on the epidemiology of infectious diseases, particularly enteric infections, foodborne and zoonotic diseases, and antimicrobial-resistant infections at the intersections of animal, human, and environmental health. My work has included studies of important bacterial pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli O157, Campylobacter, Listeria, and Enterococcus across humans, animals, food, and environmental samples. A central theme of my research is understanding how pathogens and antimicrobial resistance move through interconnected systems, including animals, food, water, soil, household environments, and people, and identifying interventions that can interrupt these transmission pathways. I use a One Health approach that integrates epidemiology, environmental health, microbiology, molecular and genomic methods, and quantitative analysis. I am also particularly interested in how hygiene practices and behaviors can reduce the transmission of enteric, zoonotic, and antimicrobial-resistant organisms.
3. What inspired you to pursue this particular area of research?
My interest developed from my multidisciplinary education and research experiences. I began my professional training in veterinary medicine, followed by graduate education in veterinary public health and food safety, public health, and later occupational and environmental health. Working across these disciplines helped me recognize that many important public health problems cannot be understood by examining human, animal, or environmental health separately. My research experiences in Ethiopia further reinforced this perspective. I investigated zoonotic and foodborne pathogens throughout food-production systems and examined their relationships with infections in people. Later, my research expanded to environmental exposures, enteric pathogen transmission, antimicrobial resistance, and child health. These experiences shaped my commitment to One Health research and to understanding the interconnected pathways through which pathogens move among animals, humans, food systems, and the environment.
4. What is the most exciting project you are currently working on or planning to pursue?
One of the projects I am currently working on is “Genomic Fingerprinting of Enteric and Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria at the Hygiene and One Health Interface for Tracking Disease Transmission in Ethiopia,” supported through my Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute Fellowship. The project examines how enteric pathogens and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria move among humans, animals, and the household environment, with particular attention to settings where close human-animal contact and hygiene challenges may increase opportunities for transmission. We are studying important enteric bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter, and using genomic fingerprinting to determine how strains detected in people, animals, and different environmental sources may be related. A major goal is to identify transmission pathways and better understand how hygiene behaviors and environmental conditions contribute to spread. Ultimately, we hope to identify points where interventions can most effectively reduce exposure to enteric pathogens and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, particularly among young children.
Further reading: RGHI Spotlight: Fanta Gutema
5. How does your research interest impact or benefit the broader community or public health field? How do you envision your research evolving in the next few years?
My research is intended to generate evidence that can be translated into practical strategies for preventing infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. By identifying where pathogens originate, how they move through food, water, animals, people, and the environment, and which behaviors or environmental conditions increase exposure, we can better identify where prevention efforts may have the greatest impact. This work is particularly relevant for communities experiencing a high burden of enteric and zoonotic disease, inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure, food-safety challenges, and increasing antimicrobial resistance, while the underlying One Health principles are applicable globally.
Over the next several years, I hope to further develop an interdisciplinary One Health research program focused on enteric diseases, zoonotic infections, food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and environmental exposures. I am especially interested in expanding the use of genomic and molecular epidemiology to trace pathogen and antimicrobial-resistance transmission and translating those findings into community-based and environmental interventions. My long-term goal is to contribute to integrated approaches for preventing infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance at the human-animal-environment interface.
6. What is the coolest training or program you’ve been a part of, or your favorite conference you’ve attended?
It is difficult to select just one because professional training and scientific conferences have played an important role throughout my career. Among the conferences I particularly enjoy are the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene annual meetings because they bring together researchers working on infectious diseases and global health from many disciplines and regions of the world. I have also valued participating in the UNC Water and Health Conference and international hygiene-focused meetings, where discussions on hygiene, environmental exposures, One Health, and antimicrobial resistance closely align with my research.
Among my training experiences, quantitative and computational training has been especially valuable because it has expanded how I approach complex public health questions. Training in Bayesian modeling for environmental health, biomedical and health data analysis, genomic sequencing, and advanced laboratory methods has helped me integrate epidemiological, environmental, and molecular information in my research.
7. What is your favorite self-authored manuscript?
I have authored and co-authored several publications across several areas of my research focus. Among these, one of my favorite first-authored manuscripts is “Core Genome Sequencing Analysis of E. coli O157:H7 Unravelling Genetic Relatedness among Strains from Cattle, Beef, and Humans in Bishoftu, Ethiopia.” In this study, we used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the genetic relatedness of E. coli O157:H7 isolates recovered from cattle, beef, and humans. The findings identified closely related strains across different points of the cattle-beef-human continuum, demonstrating the value of genomic epidemiology for tracing potential foodborne transmission pathways and strengthening One Health surveillance.
Further reading: Core Genome Sequencing Analysis of E. coli O157:H7 – Microbiology Research
My broader publication record includes studies on antimicrobial resistance, food safety, zoonotic disease transmission, household and environmental exposure pathways, and genomic characterization of enteric pathogens across human, animal, food, and environmental settings.
Complete list of published work: NCBI My Bibliography.
8. What kind of research would you like to do that you haven’t yet had the opportunity to do?
Although much of my research has focused on infectious diseases, food safety, environmental exposures, and antimicrobial resistance, I would like to expand my work into noncommunicable diseases, particularly diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular diseases. I am especially interested in exploring how environmental exposures, microbial exposures, social conditions, and other environmental-health determinants may contribute to these diseases. I see opportunities to apply some of the interdisciplinary approaches I currently use in infectious-disease and environmental-health research to better understand chronic disease risks and prevention.
9. Are there any publications, awards, or recognitions you would like us to include in the spotlight?
I would like to highlight our recent publication, “Antimicrobial resistant E. coli in animals, humans and the environment within household and compound settings: A scoping review,” published in One Health in 2026. This work is closely connected to my broader research interest in understanding antimicrobial resistance from a One Health perspective. The review synthesized evidence on antimicrobial-resistant E. coli across animals, humans, and environmental compartments within shared household and compound settings. The findings show that antimicrobial resistance can be shared across interconnected human-animal-environment systems and reinforce the importance of viewing households as One Health environments when designing AMR surveillance and interventions.
Further reading: Antimicrobial resistant E. coli in animals, humans and the environment within household and compound settings – One Health
Among the recognitions that have supported my research development, I would especially highlight the 2022 Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI) Fellowship. As mentioned above, the fellowship has provided an important opportunity to advance my research on enteric pathogens and antimicrobial resistance at the hygiene and One Health interface in Ethiopia. My RGHI-funded project, “Genomic Fingerprinting of Enteric and Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria at the Hygiene and One Health Interface for Tracking Disease Transmission in Ethiopia,” investigates how diarrheal and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria may move from animals to infants through household pathways involving water, soil, infant foods, caregivers’ hands, and the surrounding environment. It also examines household hygiene practices, animal waste management, and antimicrobial use to help identify transmission pathways and guide feasible community-based interventions.
The fellowship has been particularly meaningful because it supports research designed not only to generate scientific evidence, but also to translate findings into practical recommendations for communities and stakeholders working to reduce enteric disease and antimicrobial-resistance transmission in Ethiopia.
Further reading: RGHI Research Portfolio: Genomic Fingerprinting and One Health in Ethiopia