Walid Alali
Associate Professor
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
423-439-4438
alaliw@etsu.edu
Lamb Hall 349
Box 70259, Johnson City, TN 37615
EDUCATION
Texas A&M University
Ph.D. in Epidemiology, 2007
Post-doctoral Research Associate in Molecular Epidemiology (2007-2008)
Kansas State University
MS in Epidemiology, 2003
Jordan University of Science & Technology
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, 2000
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2022- present
Associate Professor
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
College of Public Health
East Tennessee State University
2018 – 2022
Chair and Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College of Public Health
Kuwait University
2017 – 2018
Associate Professor
Department of Veterinary Medicine
College of Food and Agriculture
United Arab Emirates University
2015 – 2017
Associate Professor and MPH Coordinator
College of Public Health
Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar
2014 – 2015
Associate Professor (with tenure)
Center for Food Safety
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences,
University of Georgia
2008 – 2014
Assistant Professor (tenure-track)
Center for Food Safety
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences,
University of Georgia
2020-2022: Public Health Advisor for COVID-19 Control and Prevention: Secondment Appointment at Kuwait Ministry of Health- Office of Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
Interviews on Kuwait National Television:
COVID-19 and Public Health Measures in Kuwait
March 18, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uA8lp_c9Ihw
COVID-19 and Public Health Measures in Kuwait (in Arabic)
March 13, 2020. https://youtu.be/yXy9KTxBy5U
Selected Invited Talks:
Future approach to antimicrobial resistant pathogens in foods of animal origin. The 9th Congress of Food Hygiene and Technology, Antalya, Turkey. November 5th, 2021.
The Impact of COVID-19 on Food safety. The 6th International Symposium on Foods and Human Health. Virtual Presentation. China, Shanghai, Pudong. October 24, 2021.
The evolving epidemiology of COVID-19: Regional and global perspective. Kuwait Thoracic Society annual meeting. Kuwait. September 12, 2020.
Infectious disease and hospital kitchen. What is the risk to healthcare workers? Clinical Infectious Diseases Symposium. Kuwait. March 14, 2019.
Foodborne disease in the 21st century. Kuwait Public Health Conference. Kuwait. September 16, 2019.
AWARDS
2019: The 2019 John N. Sofos Most-cited Journal of Food Protection Research Publication (2nd Place recipient). Awarded by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP).
2014: The Creative Research Medal Award for outstanding credentials and research accomplishments. Awarded by the University of Georgia, Office of the Vice President for Research.
2013: Larry Beuchat Young Researcher Award for outstanding ability and professional promise as a researcher in food safety. Awarded by the International Association for Food Protection (IAFP).
2011: The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Young Investigator travel award for Excellence in Research. Awarded by the ASM-Division of Food Microbiology and Public Health.
2008: The Distinguished Graduate Student Award for Excellence in Doctoral Research. Awarded by Texas A&M University Association of Former Students.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
- Epidemiology of infectious diseases including:
- Emerging/re-emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Foodborne disease
- Vaccine effectiveness
- One Health
- Global Health
PUBLICATIONS
Alali, W.Q., N.M. Abdo, W. Alfouzan, R. Dhar. 2022. Antimicrobial resistance pattern in clinical Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolates obtained from a secondary-care hospital prior to and during COVID-19 pandemic in Kuwait. GERMS. In press.
Safavi-Naini, S.A.A., Y. Farsi, W.Q. Alali, A. Solhpour, M.A. Pourhoseingholi. 2022. Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 reported fatality in Iran (April 2013–September 2021): age and sex disaggregated time series analysis. BMC research notes: 15 (1), 1-7
Al-Hadidi, S.H. Hassan Al mana, Salam Z. Almoghrabi, Tahra El-Obeid, Walid Q. Alali, Nahla O. Eltai. 2022. Retail chicken Carcasses as a Reservoir of MDR Salmonella. Microbial Drug Resistance. 28(7): 824–831.
Safavi-Naini, S.A.A., Y. Farsi, W.Q. Alali, A. Solhpour, M.A. Pourhoseingholi. 2022. Excess all-cause mortality and COVID-19 reported fatality in Iran (April 2013–September 2021): age and sex disaggregated time series analysis. BMC Research Notes: 15 (1), 1-7.
Al-Qallaf, M. and W.Q. Alali. 2022. Bromate concentrations and pH values in bottled drinking water in Kuwait. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Environmental Montoriting and Asssessment. 194 (3): 1 – 8.
Sonnevend, Ágnes, Walid Q. Alali, Sara A Mahmoud, Akela Ghazawi, Greeshma Bharathan, Szilvia Melegh, Tahir A Rizvi, Tibor Pál. 2022. Molecular Characterization of MCR-1 Producing Enterobacterales Isolated in Poultry Farms in the United Arab Emirates. Antibiotics. 11 (3): 305.
Al-Zoughool, Mustafa, T. Oraby, H. Vainio, J. Gasana, J. Longenecker; WQ. Alali, M. AlSeaidan, S. Elsaadany, M.G. Tyshenko. 2022. Using a Stochastic Continuous-Time Markov Chain Model to Examine Alternative Timing and Duration of the COVID-19 Lockdown in Kuwait: What Can be Done Now? Archives of Public Health. 80 (1): 1-8.
D Chen, Z Liang, S Ren, W. Alali, L Chen. 2022. Rapid and Visualized Detection of Virulence-Related Genes of Vibrio cholerae in Water and Aquatic Products by Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Visualized Diagnosis of Virulence-Related Genes of V. cholerae by LAMP. Journal of Food Protection. 1;85(1):44-53
Alali, W.Q., L.A. Ali, M. AlSeaidan, M. Al-Rashidi. 2021. Effectiveness of BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 vaccines against symptomatic COVID-19 among Healthcare Workers in Kuwait: A retrospective cohort study. Healthcare. 9 (12):1692.
Alali, W.Q., W. Alfouzan, R. Dhar. 2021 Prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative clinical isolates from a major secondary hospital in Kuwait: A retrospective descriptive study. GERMS. 11(4): 489 - 511.
Wadha Alfouzan, Rita Dhar, Naglaa M. Abdo, Walid Q. Alali, Ali A. Rabaan. 2021. Epidemiology and Microbiological Profile of Common Healthcare Associated Infections among Patients in the Intensive Care Unit of a General Hospital in Kuwait: A Retrospective Observational Study. Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health. 11 (3): 302–309
Haya Altawalah, Wadha Alfouzan, Rita Dhar, Walid Alali, Hamad Bastaki, Talal Al-Fadalah, Fahad Al-Ghimlas, Ali A. Rabaan, Sayeh Ezzikouri, 2021. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 seroprevalence survey among 10,256 workers in Kuwait. Journal of Clinical Virology Plus. 1: 1–2, 100017.
Michael G. Tyshenko, Tamer Oraby, Joseph Longenecker, Harri Vainio, Janvier Gasana, Walid Q. Alali, Mohammad AlSeaidan, Susie ElSaadany, Mustafa Al-Zoughool. 2021. Analysis of intervention effectiveness using early outbreak transmission dynamics to guide future pandemic management and decision-making in Kuwait, Infectious Disease Modelling. 6: 693-705.
Alali, W.Q., Hamad Bastaki, Joseph C Longenecker, Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Mohammad AlSeaidan, Wassim Chehadeh, Harri Vainio. 2021. Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in migrant workers in Kuwait. Journal of Travel Medicine: 28 (2): 1-3.
Tamer Oraby, Michael G Tyshenko, Jose Campo Maldonado, Kristina Vatcheva, Susie Elsaadany, Walid Q Alali, Joseph C Longenecker, Mustafa Al-Zoughool. 2021. Modeling the effect of lockdown timing as a COVID-19 control measure in countries with differing social contacts. Scientific Reports. 11: 3354.
Walid Q Alali, Joseph C Longenecker, Rehab Alwotyan, Hessa AlKandari, Fahd Al-Mulla, Qais Al Duwairi. 2021. Prevalence of smoking in the Kuwaiti adult population in 2014: a cross-sectional study. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 28, pages: 10053–10067.
Wadha Alfouzan, Suhail Ahmad, Rita Dhar, Mohammad Asadzadeh, Noura Almerdasi, Naglaa M Abdo, Leena Joseph, Theun de Groot, Walid Q Alali, Ziauddin Khan, Jacques F Meis, Mohammad R Al-Rashidi. 2020. Molecular Epidemiology of Candida Auris Outbreak in a Major Secondary-Care Hospital in Kuwait. J. Fungi. 6(4), 307.
Meysam Olfatifar, Walid Q Alali, Hamidreza Houri, Mohamad Amin Pourhoseingholi, Ebrahim Babaee, Romian Seifollahi, Afsaneh Sharifian, Mohammad Reza Zali. 2020. Early estimation of the epidemiological parameters of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) outbreak in Iran. Gastroenterology and Hepatology From Bed to Bench.13(Suppl.1):S134-S138).
Eltai, N.O, H Yassine, T El-Obeid, S Al-Hadidi, A Al Thani, WQ Alali. 2020. Prevalence of antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli isolates from local and imported retail chicken carcasses. J Food Prot. 83 (12): 2200 – 2208.
Meysam Olfatifar, Hamidreza Houri, Sajad Shojaee, Mohamad Amin Pourhoseingholi, , Walid Q. Alali, Luca Busani, Sara Ashtari , Shabnam Shahrokh, Amir Vahedian, Hamid Asadzadeh Aghdaei. 2020. The Required Confronting Approaches Efficacy and Time to Control COVID-19 Outbreak in Iran. Arch Clin Infect Dis. 15 (COVID-19): e102633.
Al-Rifai, R. H., K. Chaabna, T. Denagamage, W.Q. Alali. 2020. Prevalence of non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica in food products in the Middle East and North Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Food Control. 109. 106908.
Guran, H.S., R Ciftci, NC Gursoy, T Ozekinci, WQ Alali. 2020. Prevalence of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella in retail organic chicken. British Food Journal. Vol. 122 No. 4, pp. 1238-1251.
PERSONAL INTERESTS
Travel, hiking, camping, soccer, build and repair things