Daniel M. Parker
•Associate Professor (with tenure), Department of Global Health & Biobehavioral Sciences, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, University of California, Irvine
•Associate Professor (courtesy appointment), Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, University of California, Irvine
Biography
Daniel M. Parker, Ph.D., CGeog, FN'25, is Associate Professor (with tenure) in the Department of Global Health & Biobehavioral Sciences in the Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health at the University of California, Irvine, with courtesy appointments in the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics and the Department of Health, Society, & Behavior. He holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Demography from Pennsylvania State University. Parker's research focuses on how environmental change, human movement, conflict, and geographic marginality shape infectious disease transmission and access to healthcare, with particular emphasis on malaria and other vector-borne and zoonotic diseases across Southeast Asia, East Africa, the Middle East, and North America.
Parker spent three years as a Postdoctoral Researcher and GeoUnit Supervisor at the Shoklo Malaria Research Unit, Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit, in Mae Sot, Thailand, where he was embedded in one of the world's most active field sites for malaria elimination research on the Thailand-Myanmar border. He later served as Visiting Professor in Epidemiology at Mahidol University's Faculty of Tropical Medicine. His field-based work has contributed to regional malaria elimination programs and has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other sources. He also served as an expert witness in litigation concerning COVID-19 transmission in the California state correctional system and contributed to large-scale seroprevalence surveillance in Orange County, California during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Parker is a Chartered Geographer (CGeog) and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and was elected Fellow National of The Explorers Club in 2025. He holds a 2026 Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award (Türkiye) from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. He is Associate Editor of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and serves on the editorial board of Spatial Demography. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed journal articles, with a Google Scholar H-index of 40, and has formally supervised or mentored 27 Ph.D. students across institutions in the United States, Thailand, and Ethiopia.
Return to topEducation
- B.A. in Anthropology, University of Washington, 2009
- M.A. in Anthropology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University, 2011
- Ph.D. in Anthropology and Demography, Pennsylvania State University, 2014
Distinctions
- Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award (Türkiye), 2026
- Chartered Geographer (CGeog) and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), 2021
- Fellow National (FN'25), The Explorers Club, 2025
- Awarded Explorers Club Flag No. 60: The River as Archive: Exploring Memory and Movement Along the Salween River (Expedition Leader), 2026
- Inductee, Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health, UCI Delta Rho Chapter, 2020
- Juan Comas Award for best student paper, American Association of Physical Anthropologists Annual Meeting, 2010
- National and/or Global Health Impact Award, Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences Faculty Assembly, University of California, Irvine, 2026
- Discover Editor Award, Discover Social Science and Health, 2026
- Graduate Student Mentor Award, Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, University of California, Irvine, 2025
- Curtis Wienker Award for Best Biocultural Anthropology Essay, University of Washington, 2009
Areas of Expertise
- Spatial Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
- Malaria Elimination Strategies
- Population Mobility and Disease Transmission
- Vector-Borne Pathogen Surveillance
- Armed Conflict and Neglected Tropical Diseases
- Aedes Mosquito Ecological Modeling
- Refugee and Displaced Community Health
Recent Publications
- Rae J.D., Parker D.M., Maude R.J., Thu A.M., Devine A., Nosten F.H., Simpson J.A., “Spatiotemporal trends in P. falciparum malaria and identification of high-risk villages in Eastern Myanmar: an 8-year observational study” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 16, 2026.
- Acharya S., Mishra S.R., von Seidlein L., Adhikari B., Parker D.M., “Reimagining primary health care: a historical and contemporary scoping review of community-based primary health care models and innovations” (opens in new tab), Preventive Medicine Reports, vol. 62, pp. 103390, 2026.
- Saita S., Parker D.M., Suk-uam K., Phuanukoonnon S., Pooseesod K., “Challenges and responses of malaria elimination in a high-endemic area along the Thai-Myanmar border: A health systems perspective” (opens in new tab), PLOS Global Public Health, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. e0006286, 2026.
- Tarnas M.C., Vasylyeva T.I., Minin V.M., Parker D.M., “Nighttime lights as a proxy for conflict intensity and infrastructure recovery in Yemen and Ukraine” (opens in new tab), Conflict and Health, vol. 20, 2026.
- El Kheir-Mataria W.A., Tarnas M.C., Simonek T., Al-Jadba G., Setrana M.B., Ellis K., Heck G., Ayoub M., İçduygu A., Zaman M.H., Parker D.M., “Refugee health inclusion: Legal, geopolitical, and economic barriers” (opens in new tab), International Migration, vol. 63, pp. e70048, 2025.
- Sehi G., Birhanie S.K., Hans J., Brown M.Q., Parker D.M., “Environmental correlates of Aedes aegypti abundance in the West Valley Region of San Bernardino County, California, U.S.A. from 2017 - 2023: an ecological modeling study” (opens in new tab), Parasites and Vectors, vol. 18, pp. 349, 2025.
- Parker D.M., Haileselassie W., Hailemariam T.S., Workenh A., Workineh S., Wang X., Lee M.C., Yan G., “High seroprevalence of antibodies to dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia: A cross-sectional survey in 2024” (opens in new tab), PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol. 2025-July, 2025.
- Pooseesod K., Suk-uam K., Parker D.M., Phuanukoonnon S., Saita S., “Resilience of long-lasting insecticidal net distribution system on the Thai-Myanmar border: pre, during, and post COVID-19 pandemic insights” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 24, pp. 258, 2025.
- Aung P.L., Sripoorote P., Inthitanon N., Wattanagoon Y., Hamers R., van Nuil J.I., Cui L., Nguitragool W., Jones L., Sudewo A.G., Sattabongkot J., Parker D.M., “Malaria care-seeking behaviors and infection prevalence among short-term Myanmar migrants in Thailand” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 24, pp. 280, 2025.
- Goldstein I.H., Parker D.M., Jiang S., Minin V.M., “Semiparametric inference of effective reproduction number dynamics from wastewater pathogen surveillance data” (opens in new tab), Biometrics, vol. 80, no. 3, pp. ujae074, 2024.
- Tarnas M.C., Abbara A., Desai A.N., Parker D.M., “Ecological study measuring the association between conflict, environmental factors, and annual global cutaneous and mucocutaneous leishmaniasis incidence (2005 - 2022)” (opens in new tab), PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, vol. 18, 2024.
- Glendening N., Haileselassie W., Lee M.C., Taye B., Alemu Y., Belachew A., Deressa W., Yan G., Parker D.M., “A cross-sectional study investigating malaria prevalence and associated predictors of infection among migrants to a newly established gold mining settlement in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 23, pp. 292, 2024.
- Saita S., Roobsoong W., Khammaneechan P., Sukchan P., Lawpoolsri S., Sattabongkot J., Cui L., Okanurak K., Phuanukoonnon S., Parker D.M., “Community acceptability, participation, and adherence to mass drug administration with primaquine for Plasmodium vivax elimination in Southern Thailand: a mixed methods approach” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 22, pp. 17, 2023.
- Parker D.M., Medina C., Bohl J., Lon C., Chea S., Lay S., Kong D., Nhek S., Man S., Doehl J.S.P., Leang R., Kry H., Rekol H., Oliveira F., Minin V.M., Manning J.E., “Determinants of exposure to Aedes mosquitoes: A comprehensive geospatial analysis in peri-urban Cambodia” (opens in new tab), Acta Tropica, vol. 239, pp. 106829, 2023.
- Zhao Y., Aung P.L., Ruan S., Win K.M., Wu Z., Soe T.N., Soe M.T., Cao Y., Sattabongkot J., Kyaw M.P., Cui L., Menezes L., Parker D.M., “Spatio-temporal trends of malaria incidence from 2011 to 2017 and environmental predictors of malaria transmission in Myanmar” (opens in new tab), Infectious Diseases of Poverty, vol. 12, pp. 2, 2023.
- Tarnas M.C., Ching C., Lamb J.B., Parker D.M., Zaman M.H., “Analyzing health of forcibly displaced communities through an integrated ecological lens” (opens in new tab), American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, vol. 108, no. 3, pp. 465-469, 2023.
- Aung P.L., Soe M.T., Soe T.N., Oo T.L., Win K.M., Cui L., Kyaw M.P., Sattabongkot J., Okanurak K., Parker D.M., “Factors hindering coverage of targeted mass treatment with primaquine in a malarious township of northern Myanmar in 2019–2020” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 13, pp. 5963, 2023.
- Haileselassie W., Adam R., Habtemichael M., David R.E., Solomon N., Workineh S., Haider J., Belachew A., Deressa W., Yan G., Kassaw N.A., Parker D.M., “Socio-demographic and economic inequity in the use of insecticide-treated bed nets during pregnancy: a survey-based case study of four sub-Saharan African countries with a high burden of malaria” (opens in new tab), Archives of Public Health, vol. 81, pp. 64, 2023.
- Nguyen T.D., Tran T.N.A., Parker D.M., White N.J., Boni M.F., “Antimalarial mass drug administration in large populations and the evolution of drug resistance” (opens in new tab), PLOS Global Public Health, vol. 3, no. 7, pp. e0002200, 2023.
- Tarnas M.C., Al-Dheeb N., Zaman M.H., Parker D.M., “Association between air raids and reported incidence of cholera in Yemen, 2016–19: an ecological modelling study” (opens in new tab), The Lancet Global Health, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. e1955-e1963, 2023.
Most Cited Publications
- Thu A., Phyo A., Landier J., Parker D.M., Nosten F., “Combating multi-drug resistant Plasmodium falciparum malaria” (opens in new tab), The FEBS Journal, vol. 284, no. 16, pp. 2569–2578, 2017.
- Landier J., Parker D.M., Thu A.M., Lwin K.M., Delmas G., Nosten F., the Malaria Elimination Task Force Group, “Effect of generalized access to early diagnosis and treatment and targeted mass drug administration on Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Eastern Myanmar: an observational study of a regional elimination programme” (opens in new tab), The Lancet, vol. 391, pp. 1916-1926, 2018.
- Landier J., Parker D.M., Thu A.M., Carrara V.I., Lwin K.M., Bonnington C.A., Pukrittayakamee S., Delmas G., Nosten F.H., “The role of early detection and treatment in malaria elimination” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 15, pp. 363, 2016.
- Parker D.M., Carrara V.I., Pukrittayakamee S., McGready R., Nosten F.H., “Malaria ecology along the Thailand–Myanmar border” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 14, pp. 388, 2015.
- Matthews S.A., Parker D.M., “Progress in Spatial Demography” (opens in new tab), Demographic Research, vol. 28, pp. 271–312, 2013.
- Parker D.M., Matthews S.A., Yan G., Zhou G., Lee M.C., Sirichaisinthop J., Kiattibutr K., Fan Q., Li P., Sattabongkot J., Cui L., “Microgeography and molecular epidemiology of malaria at the Thailand-Myanmar border in the malaria pre-elimination phase” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 14, pp. 198, 2015.
- Pooseesod K., Parker D.M., Meemon N., Lawpoolsri S., Singhasivanon P., Sattabongkot J., Cui L., Phuanukoonnon S., “Ownership and utilization of bed nets and reasons for use or non-use of bed nets among community members at risk of malaria along the Thai-Myanmar border” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 20, pp. 305, 2021.
- Haileselassie W., Parker D.M., Taye B., Randy D.E., Zemene E., Lee M.C., Zhong D., Zhou G., Alemu T., Tadele G., Kazura J.W., Koepfli C., Deressa W., Yewhalaw D., Yan G., “Burden of malaria, impact of interventions and climate variability in Western Ethiopia: an area with large irrigation based farming” (opens in new tab), BMC Public Health, vol. 22, pp. 196, 2022.
- Li N., Parker D.M., Yang Z., Fan Q., Zhou G., Ai G., Duan J., Lee M.C., Yan G., Matthews S.A., Cui L., Wang Y., “Risk factors associated with slide positivity among febrile patients in a conflict zone of north-eastern Myanmar along the China-Myanmar border” (opens in new tab), Malaria Journal, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 361, 2013.
- Bruckner T.A., Parker D.M., Bartell S.M., Khan S., Noymer A., Drum E., Albala B., Zahn M., Boden-Albala B., “Estimated seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults in Orange County, California” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 11, pp. 3081, 2021.
Contact Information
Email: dparker1@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-6865
Address: 3549 Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences
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Last updated on 9/10/2026.