John Openshaw

ABOUT

johnopenshawMy name is John Openshaw and I am a instructor in infectious diseases at Stanford University.

I am interested in the intersection between infectious disease and ecology and much of my current research is on detecting emerging zoonotic pathogens.

Zoonotic disease represents a major burden to human health: from the bubonic plague of the middle ages, to the 1918 flu pandemic that infected one third of the world’s population, to the modern Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic which affects 34 million people living today.

My current work aims to detect viral spillover events from animals to humans with the hope of eventually understanding the ecology that drives this process and better defining the steps that will be required to stop the emergence of these pathogens.

I am also interested in the use of technology and media to improve healthcare.

I started this website to share pictures and stories about health, travel, and science. I hope that it combines a mix of lighthearted experiences with more serious pieces that make us all think about why things are the way they are. I hope to keep it updated when I am in the field — hopefully adding new material weekly.

If you are looking for my fictional but sadly short lived Sherlockian namesake, I would direct you here.