Nita Bharti
Huck Early Career Professor; Assistant Professor of Biology

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W253 Millennium Science Complex
University Park, PA 16802 - She/Her
- nita@psu.edu
- 814-863-9545
Research Summary
The Bharti lab investigates the underlying links between humans, pathogens, and the environment. We work to identify the mechanisms that give rise to heterogeneities in host disease burden and risk across scales, across spatial and temporal scales. We study the dynamics of host-environment interactions that drive movement and contact patterns as they relate to to pathogen transmission and access to health care.
Huck Affiliations
Links
Publication Tags
Niger Satellite Imagery Population Nigeria Measles Fluctuations Vaccination Population Density Immunization Population Dynamics Imagery Health Vaccination Coverage Public Health Vaccines History Lighting Rain Information Storage And Retrieval Fluctuation Immunization Programs Demography Disease Outbreaks Health Services Needs And Demand EpidemicsMost Recent Papers
The influence of vector-borne disease on human history
Tejas S. Athni, Marta S. Shocket, Lisa I. Couper, Nicole Nova, Iain R. Caldwell, Jamie M. Caldwell, Jasmine N. Childress, Marissa L. Childs, Giulio A. De Leo, Devin G. Kirk, Andrew J. MacDonald, Kathryn Olivarius, David G. Pickel, Steven O. Roberts, Olivia C. Winokur, Hillary S. Young, Julian Cheng, Elizabeth A. Grant, Patrick M. Kurzner, Saw Kyaw, Bradford J. Lin, Ricardo C. Lopez, Diba S. Massihpour, Erica C. Olsen, Maggie Roache, Angie Ruiz, Emily A. Schultz, Muskan Shafat, Rebecca L. Spencer, Nita Bharti, Erin A. Mordecai, 2021, Ecology Letters on p. 829-846
Linking human behaviors and infectious diseases
Nita Bharti, 2021, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Application of reflectance ratios on high-resolution satellite imagery to remotely identify eucalypt vegetation
Kelsee Baranowski, Teairah Taylor, Brian Lambert, Nita Bharti, 2020, Remote Sensing on p. 1-18
Investigating persistent measles dynamics in Niger and associations with rainfall
Alexandre Blake, Ali Djibo, Ousmane Guindo, Nita Bharti, 2020, Journal of the Royal Society Interface
Controlling the coronavirus narrative
Nita Bharti, 2020, Science on p. 780
How to maintain physical and mental health during coronavirus
Nita Bharti, 2020, The Conversation
Lessons from managing a campus mumps outbreak using test, trace, and isolate efforts
Nita Bharti, Cara Exten, Valerie Fulton, Robin Oliver-Veronesi, 2020, American Journal of Infection Control
Fluctuations in anthropogenic nighttime lights from satellite imagery for five cities in Niger and Nigeria
Nita Bharti, Andrew J. Tatem, 2018, Scientific data
Measuring populations to improve vaccination coverage
Nita Bharti, Ali Djibo, Andrew J. Tatem, Bryan T. Grenfell, Matthew J. Ferrari, 2016, Scientific Reports
Remotely measuring populations during a crisis by overlaying two data sources
Nita Bharti, Xin Lu, Linus Bengtsson, Erik Wetter, Andrew J. Tatem, 2015, International Health on p. 90-98
Most-Cited Papers
Approaching the limit of predictability in human mobility
Xin Lu, Erik Wetter, Nita Bharti, Andrew J. Tatem, Linus Bengtsson, 2013, Scientific Reports
Explaining seasonal fluctuations of measles in Niger using nighttime lights imagery
Nita Bharti, A. J. Tatem, Matthew Joseph Ferrari, R. F. Grais, A. Djibo, B. T. Grenfell, 2011, Science on p. 1424-1427
Mapping populations at risk
Andrew J. Tatem, Susana Adamo, Nita Bharti, Clara R. Burgert, Marcia Castro, Audrey Dorelien, Gunter Fink, Catherine Linard, Mendelsohn John, Livia Montana, Mark R. Montgomery, Andrew Nelson, Abdisalan M. Noor, Deepa Pindolia, Greg Yetman, Deborah Balk, 2012, Population Health Metrics
The epidemiology of rubella in Mexico
C. J.E. Metcalf, O. N. Bjørnstad, M. J. Ferrari, P. Klepac, N. Bharti, H. Lopez-Gatell, B. T. Grenfell, 2011, Epidemiology and Infection on p. 1029-1038
Ebola
M. Elizabeth Halloran, Alessandro Vespignani, Nita Bharti, Leora R. Feldstein, K. A. Alexander, Matthew Ferrari, Jeffrey Shaman, John M. Drake, Travis Porco, Joseph N.S. Eisenberg, Sara Y. Del Valle, Eric Lofgren, Samuel V. Scarpino, Marisa C. Eisenberg, Daozhou Gao, James M. Hyman, Stephen Eubank, Ira M. Longini, 2014, Science on p. 433
Remotely measuring populations during a crisis by overlaying two data sources
Nita Bharti, Xin Lu, Linus Bengtsson, Erik Wetter, Andrew J. Tatem, 2015, International Health on p. 90-98
Measuring populations to improve vaccination coverage
Nita Bharti, Ali Djibo, Andrew J. Tatem, Bryan T. Grenfell, Matthew J. Ferrari, 2016, Scientific Reports
Spatial dynamics of meningococcal meningitis in Niger: Observed patterns in comparison with measles
N. Bharti, H. Broutin, R. F. Grais, M. J. Ferrari, A. Djibo, A. J. Tatem, B. T. Grenfell, 2012, Epidemiology and Infection on p. 1356-1365
Fluctuations in anthropogenic nighttime lights from satellite imagery for five cities in Niger and Nigeria
Nita Bharti, Andrew J. Tatem, 2018, Scientific data
Controlling the coronavirus narrative
Nita Bharti, 2020, Science on p. 780
News Articles Featuring Nita Bharti
Feb 02, 2021
Vector-borne diseases shaped human history and reveal race disparities
Vector-borne diseases (VBDs), such as plague, malaria and yellow fever, have significantly shaped society and culture, according to an international team of researchers. In a study published in Ecology Letters on Jan. 27, the team used historical evidence interpreted through an ecological lens to illustrate how VBDs have influenced human history, with particular attention to how VBDs have reinforced and exacerbated racism.
Full Article
Jan 29, 2021
Take Note: Epidemiologist Dr. Nita Bharti On Safety And Effectiveness Of New COVID-19 Vaccines
The COVID-19 vaccine is slowly rolling out across the country. Some people still have concerns about these new vaccines and their safety.
Full Article
Jan 29, 2021
Take Note: Epidemiologist Dr. Nita Bharti On Safety And Effectiveness Of New COVID-19 Vaccines
The COVID-19 vaccine is slowly rolling out across the country. Some people still have concerns about these new vaccines and their safety.
Full Article
Dec 21, 2020
Can the NBA win its rematch with COVID-19?
As the pandemic wreaks havoc on the NCAA and NFL, the 2020-21 NBA season offers new hopes and fears
Full Article
Oct 30, 2020
Football is back in Happy Valley. The Coronavirus never left.
Not quite a mile form Beaver Stadium, there's an off-the-grid building encircled by a tall metal fence. Surrounded by fields, unmarked on maps, it looks like a tiny jail north of the Penn State campus. The gate is locked.
Full Article
Oct 16, 2020
Heading down to the Linc Sunday for the Ravens-Eagles game? Here’s what you need to know
So you’re an Eagles season ticket holder who opted in for 2020, instead of deferring for a year, and then you secured a “pod” of two to six tickets to Sunday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens — the first game this season in which fans will be allowed at Lincoln Financial Field. What can you expect?
Full Article
Sep 09, 2020
The NFL expects to play a full season despite coronavirus concerns
Training camp amid the pandemic went better than even some of the most optimistic NFL observers would have predicted, with the league’s COVID-19 reserve list dwindling steadily from 66 players at the end of July to fewer than half a dozen as the week of the season openers arrived.
Full Article
Aug 25, 2020
Measles outbreaks in Niger linked to rainfall and temperature, study finds
Rainfall and temperature drive agricultural activity, which, in turn, influences patterns of measles outbreaks in the West African nation of Niger, according to an international team of researchers. The findings may be useful for improving vaccine coverage for seasonally mobile populations within Niger and other countries.
Full Article
Aug 25, 2020
Faculty funded to study how people's movement impacts COVID-19 transmission
Nita Bharti, Lloyd Huck Early Career Professor and assistant professor of biology at Penn State, and her collaborator Anthony Robinson, associate professor of geography at Penn State, have been awarded seed funding from the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State to study how monitoring the movement of people can potentially be used as a predictor or early indicator of COVID-19 transmission and guide health policy decisions.
Full Article
Jul 26, 2020
Penn State is about to turn Centre County into a massive coronavirus research project
Tens of thousands of students are scheduled to return to Penn State’s main campus in central Pennsylvania next month, swelling its host county’s population by more than a third. And during a historic public health crisis, that’s a research opportunity.
Full Article