Spokesperson Portfolio - Michael J. Beach, PhD

Associate Director for Healthy Water, National Center for Emerging, Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Deputy Director, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases

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Water, water everywhere. And that’s what concerns Dr. Michael Beach, CDC’s foremost expert on waterborne illnesses. Whether people are swimming in neighborhood pools in the U.S. or trying to find clean drinking water in developing nations, Beach is on the front line of defense in keeping them safe from microbial threats that so frequently cause debilitating illness and even death. Unlike some scientists who confine their work to the laboratory, for Beach, the world is the laboratory. And communication and education are key weapons in his disease-fighting arsenal.

Video: Protecting the World from Dangers in Water

Protecting the World from Dangers in Water

Information

Contact
CDC Public Affairs
404.639.3286
media@cdc.gov

Biography
Michael J. Beach, PhD [193 KB]

Expertise

Domestic water safety
Drinking water safety
Global drinking water safety
Outbreak investigations
Recreational water health and safety
Safe drinking water
Waterborne illnesses
Waterborne pathogens

Current Position

Associate Director for Healthy Water, National Center for Emerging, Zoonotic Infectious Diseases
Deputy Director, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases

Photos

Spokesperson Resources

Past Positions

Team Leader, Water and Environment Activity, Parasitic Diseases Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases
Chief, Healthy Swimming Program , National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases
Epidemiologist, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases
Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, Division of Parasitic Diseases, National Center for Zoonotic, Vectorborne, and Enteric Diseases
Research Chemist, Hepatitis Branch, National Center for HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis Prevention
Chief, Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch, Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases, National Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Infectious Diseases

Education

University of Massachusetts (Postdoctoral Research) Biochemistry
Purdue University (Ph.D.), Biochemistry
Western Washington University (Post‑B.A. studies) Chemistry
Humboldt State University (B.A.), Biology

Honors and Awards

Power 25, Aquatics International, 2013 and 2011
EPA Level III Scientific and Technological Achievement Award, 2011
James H. Nakano Award, 2006, 2005, 1998, 1997

Murphy JL, Haas CN, Arrowood MJ, Hlavsa MC, Beach MJ, Hill VR. Efficacy of chlorine dioxide tablets on inactivation of Cryptosporidium oocysts. Environ Sci Technol. 2014;48(10):5849-5856.
Budge PJ, Lazensky R, Van Zile KW, Elliott, KE, Dooyema CA, Visvesvara GS, Yoder J, Beach MJ. Primary amebic meningoencephalitis in Florida: A case report and epidemiological review of Florida cases. J Environ Health. 2013;75(8):26-31.
Wade TJ , Sams EA , Beach MJ, Collier SA , Dufour AP. The incidence and health burden of earaches attributable to recreational swimming in natural waters: A prospective cohort study. Environ Health J. 2013;12:67:2-10.
Ailes E, Budge P, Shankar M, Collier S, Brinton W, Cronquist A, Chen M, Thornton A, Beach MJ, Brunkard JM. Economic and health impacts associated with a Salmonella Typhimurium drinking water outbreak−Alamosa, CO, 2008. PLOS One. 2013;8(3):e57439.
Collier SA, Hlavsa MC, Piercefield EW, Beach MJ. Antimicrobial and analgesic prescribing patterns for acute otitis externa, 2004-2010. Otolaryngol – Head Neck Surg. 2013;148:128-34.
Yoder JS, Straif-Bourgeois S, Roy SL, Moore TA, Visvesvara GS, Ratard RC, Hill V, Wilson JD, Linscott AJ, Crager R, Kozak NA, Sriram R, Narayanan J, Mull B, Kahler AM, Schneeberger C, da Silva AJ, Beach MJ. Deaths from Naegleria fowleri associated with sinus irrigation with tap water: a review of the changing epidemiology of primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;55:e79-85.
Collier SA, Stockman LJ, Hicks LA, Garrison LE, Zhou FJ, Beach MJ. Direct healthcare costs of selected diseases primarily or partially transmitted by water. Epidemiol Infect. 2012;140:2003-2013.
Yoder JS, Verani J, Heidman N, Hoppe-Bauer J, Alfonso E, Miller D, Jones DB, Bruckner D, Langston R, Jeng BH, Joslin CE, Tu E, Pehar M, Colby K, Vetter E, Ritterband D, Mathers W, Kowalski RP, Acharya N, Limaye A, Roy S, Lorick S, Roberts J, Beach MJ. (2011) Persistence of Acanthamoeba keratitis case detection following a multistate outbreak. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 2012;19:221-225.
Kemble SK, Lynfield R, DeVries AS, Drehner DM, Pomputius WF, Beach MJ, Visvesvara GS, da Silva AJ, Hill VR, Yoder JS, Xiao L, Smith KE, Danila R. Fatal Naegleria fowleri infection acquired in Minnesota: Possible expanded range of a deadly thermophilic organism. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;54(6):805-9.
Cantey PT, Roy S, Lee B, Cronquist A, Smith K, Liang J, Beach MJ. Study of non-outbreak giardiasis: Novel findings and implications for research. Amer J Med 2011;124(12):1175.e1-1175.e1-8.
Moss DM, Priest JW, Boyd A, Weinkopff T, Kucerova Z, Beach MJ, Lammie PJ. Multiplex bead assay on sera from Haitian children enrolled in a drug study for the treatment of lymphatic filariasis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2011;85:229-237.
Stockman LJ, Wright CJ, Visvesvara GS, Fields BS, Beach MJ. Prevalence of Acanthamoeba spp. and other free-living amoebae in household water sources, Ohio, USA, 1990-1992. Parasitol Res 2011;108:621-627.
Wade TJ, Sams E, Brenner KP, Haugland R, Chern E, Beach MJ, Wymer L, Rankin CC, Love D, Li Q, Noble R, Dufour AP. Rapidly measured indicators of recreational water quality and swimming-associated illness at marine beaches. Environ Health 2010;9:66.
Yoder JS, Eddy BA, Visvesvara GS, Capewell L, Beach MJ. The epidemiology of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in the USA, 1962-2008. Epidemiol Infect 2010;138:968-75.

Page last reviewed: September 22, 2014
Page last updated: May 9, 2016
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Spokesperson Portfolio - Michael J. Beach, PhD

Video: Protecting the World from Dangers in Water

Information

Spokesperson Resources

Past Positions

Education

Honors and Awards

Video: New Water Safety Issues in America

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Spokesperson Portfolio - Michael J. Beach, PhD

Video: Protecting the World from Dangers in Water

Information

Spokesperson Resources

Past Positions

Education

Honors and Awards

Connect with CDC Media

CDC Quick Links

File Formats Help: