Jonathan Epstein, DVM, PHD
- Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology
On the web
Overview
Dr. Jon Epstein is a veterinarian and epidemiologist whose research focuses on the ecology and spillover of zoonotic viruses in wildlife, domestic animals and people, particularly high consequence viruses associated with wildlife such as Nipah virus, Ebola, Marburg virus, avian influenza and zoonotic coronaviruses. Dr. Epstein frequently works with government health and wildlife agencies in the US and abroad, as well as intergovernmental institutions including WHO, WOAH, FAO, Africa CDC and IUCN to help develop zoonotic disease surveillance systems. Dr. Epstein teaches and mentors graduate students at Columbia and through additional adjunct faculty appointments at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and Harvard University’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. His research has been published in leading scientific journals such as Science, Nature, PNAS, and Cell and has been featured on 60 Minutes, CNN, the PBS documentary Spillover, The New York Times and other news media. He was Chief Scientific Advisor for the exhibit Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World, which opened at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Natural History in 2017.
Academic Appointments
- Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Credentials & Experience
Education & Training
- DVM, 2002 Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
- MPH, 2002 Tufts University School of Medicine
- PhD, 2017 Kingston University
- Fellowship: 2011 Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Committees, Societies, Councils
Advisory Board, Cumming School of Veterinary Medicine, tufts University
Member, WHO Collaborative Open Research Consortium (Paramyxovirus)
Associate, Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Adjunct Associate Professor, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Editorial Boards
Review Editor, One Health Outlook
Guest Editor, Viruses special issue bat-borne viral zoonoses (2022)
Honors & Awards
Tufts Alumni Achievement Award (2025)
Griffin Circle Award, Garden School (for developing school COVID protocols) (2021)
Commencement Speaker, Tufts University Medical School Graduate Programs in Public Health (2014)
Top ten, Young Alumni Achievement Award, Tufts University (2012)
Outstanding Alumnus Award, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (2007)
Delta Omega Honor Society (public health) (2006)
Research
Research Interests
- Global Health
- Infectious Diseases
- Viral Zoonoses
Selected Publications
Bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-like coronaviruses. W Li, Z Shi, M Yu, W Ren, C Smith, JH Epstein, H Wang, G Crameri, Z Hu, ... Science 310 (5748), 676-679 (2005) DOI: 10.1126/science.1118391
Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor. XY Ge, JL Li, XL Yang, AA Chmura, G Zhu, JH Epstein, JK Mazet, B Hu, ... Nature 503 (7477), 535-538 (2013) https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12711
Nipah virus dynamics in bats and implications for spillover to humans. JH Epstein, SJ Anthony, A Islam, AM Kilpatrick, S Ali Khan, MD Balkey, ... Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117 (46), 29190-29201 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2000429117
Reservoir host immune responses to emerging zoonotic viruses. JN Mandl, R Ahmed, LB Barreiro, P Daszak, JH Epstein, HW Virgin, ... Cell 160 (1), 20-35 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.12.003
Interventions to reduce risk for pathogen spillover and early disease spread to prevent outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. NM Vora, L Hannah, C Walzer, MM Vale, S Lieberman, A Emerson, ... Emerging infectious diseases 29 (3), e221079 (2023) 10.3201/eid2903.221079
Behavioral risk assessment of exposure to wild and domestic animals in response to a Marburg virus disease outbreak, Ghana 2022. R Suu-Ire, S Ball, MY Ziekah, J DeMarco, M Kain, AS Agyei, JH Epstein. One Health 20, 101010 (2025) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101010
Prevalence and risk factors for avian influenza virus (H5 and H9) contamination in peri-urban and rural live bird markets in Bangladesh. A Islam, S Islam, M Islam, ME Hossain, S Munro, MA Samad, MK Rahman, ... Frontiers in Public Health 11, 1148994 (2023) https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1148994
Potential risk zones and climatic factors influencing the occurrence and persistence of avian influenza viruses in the environment of live bird markets in Bangladesh. A Islam, E Amin, S Munro, ME Hossain, S Islam, MM Hassan, A Al Mamun, ... One Health 17, 100644 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2023.100644