Lauren Charles, chief data scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), has been named an affiliate member of Global One Health Academy (GOHA), a North Carolina State University-based initiative that is focused on combating infectious diseases, driving food and water solutions, and addressing climate change and health disparities.

GOHA taps into NC State’s strengths in agriculture and plant health, veterinary medicine and domestic animal health, and the health of biodiverse ecosystems and human societies to address complex global challenges. The academy engages faculty, staff, undergraduate, and graduate students in improving the health of plants, animals, biodiversity, and human society.

As an affiliate member, Charles has access to interdisciplinary collaborations to form regional, national, and global networks. Affiliate members are listed on the GOHA website under their thematic areas of interest. 

One Health, Charles said, is the fundamental concept that human health and health threats are interconnected to the health of other animals, plants, and the environment. 

“As the Earth’s population grows, our connections with plants, animals, biodiversity, and the environment changes,” Charles said. “Such connections are engendered by people living closer together, changes in climate and land use, greater global travel and trade, and the role of animals beyond food source. These factors can negatively impact the health of our shared environment, affect food and water supplies, and make it easier for diseases to spread between animals and people. The only way to truly combat these threats is through a holistic One Health approach.”

Charles, a joint appointee with Washington State University’s Paul G. Allen School for Global Health, has already established herself as a leader of One Health. 

In April, Charles was selected as a guest editor for a One Health collection, published by Nature’s Scientific Reports. In summer 2023, she joined the editorial board of the research journal.

Charles leads PNNL’s Artificial Intelligence-Driven One Health Security team, which focuses on disrupting health threats and their impacts. Leveraging PNNL’s leadership in operational artificial intelligence and One Health, the team is working at the local, regional, national, and global levels to achieve optimal health and national security results.

In addition to her connections to One Health, Charles also has previous connections to NC State. She has earned three degrees from the university: an interdisciplinary PhD (climate, wildlife, and zoonoses), a doctorate of veterinary medicine, and a master’s in plant pathology. She earned her bachelor’s in mathematics from Boston College.