Biography
Dr. Sumaira Khalid Ariturk earned her Master of Public Health and Health Services Research degree from Newcastle University (UK), her Pharm.D., and her Ph.D. in Epidemiology from the West Virginia University School of Public Health.
She has taught community health, global health, study design, and advanced epidemiology. In her role as Practicum Director, Dr. Khalid-Ariturk leads hands-on public health training focused on community health needs assessments (CHNAs), priority-setting, budget development, program implementation, evaluation, and effective health communication strategies, in partnership with organizations such as Cabell-Huntington Health Department and Marshall Health Network.
Her research centers on disease risk modeling in economically disadvantaged and structurally marginalized populations, with applications in neurodegenerative disorders, multimorbidity and aging, mental health, sleep disorders, and healthcare access. She applies real-world data to integrate socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors into analytic models. Her methodological expertise includes longitudinal and cohort study design, meta-analysis, risk estimation, and advanced statistical modeling using both primary community-based data and large secondary datasets. Recent work includes chronic disease burden in Appalachian communities, COVID-19 mortality risk modeling, and maternal and neonatal health.
Dr. Ariturk is a Fulbright and Commonwealth-UK scholar with advanced training in epidemiology and international collaboration experience that informs her analytical perspective and understanding of diverse public health systems.