Environmental Determinants of Infectious Diseases: Integrating Exposure Science, Predictive Analytics, and Ecological Drivers of Population-Level Risk

The convergence of rapid environmental change and emerging infectious diseases presents an urgent challenge for global public health. Harnessing advances in exposure science, predictive analytics, and integrated surveillance tools offers new opportunities to anticipate, mitigate, and manage population-level health risks. This interdisciplinary Research Topic aims to advance the understanding of how environmental and ecological factors—including climate-driven changes, vector ecology, environmental reservoirs, air pollution, and microplastics—drive the emergence, transmission, and susceptibility of infectious diseases across both human and animal populations. We highlight conventional and novel approaches that integrate environmental exposure assessment, digital and genomic surveillance, risk modeling, and comprehensive epidemiology to inform public health interventions and policies. In line with current scientific priorities, we especially encourage research that connects environmental and ecological drivers with predictive analytics, AI-based warning systems, and One Health frameworks addressing zoonotic spillover, antimicrobial resistance, and pathogen evolution at the population level. By embracing a broader interdisciplinary perspective, this Topic seeks to facilitate contributions from researchers in environmental health, epidemiology, animal and clinical sciences, bioinformatics, data science, and public health implementation.We welcome contributions that rigorously investigate environmental and ecological pathways shaping infectious disease risk, especially those that leverage interdisciplinary methods or data integration to deliver actionable, population-level insights. Emphasis is placed on studies that inform or evaluate public health interventions, population surveillance, or prevention strategies, and advance effective, evidence-based approaches to reduce infectious disease burden.This Research Topic is intended for contributions that address the epidemiological characteristics, transmission mechanisms, surveillance innovation, and intervention effectiveness for infectious diseases from a public health perspective. Manuscripts should focus on population-level risk, surveillance, and prevention rather than experimental pathogenesis, purely molecular biology, or treatment of individual cases. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses must relate findings to population health.To gather further insights, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Trends and determinants in environmental or digital infectious disease surveillanceo Application of One Health and cross-sectoral frameworks to infectious disease risk and preventiono Integration of environmental, epidemiological, behavioral, molecular, or digital data for risk mapping and public health preparednesso Regional or global case studies of climate, land use, migration, or wildlife reservoirs underlying infectious disease emergence or outbreakso Bioinformatic, genomic, and data science methodologies for monitoring, risk assessment, and public health decision-makingo Implementation and evaluation of interventions, policies, or campaigns targeting environmentally mediated infectious diseasesWe encourage research that connects environmental, animal, and human health domains within a clear public health and epidemiological context, and that supports the advancement of related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 3, SDG 6, SDG 9).We welcome original research articles, systematic and scoping reviews (with public health conclusions), implementation studies, surveillance reports, epidemiological analyses, data science advances, methods, and short communications, provided each has a public health focus. Topic editors: Muhammad Munir, Afreenish Amir, Shoaib Ashraf, Muhammad Zubair Shabbir Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80369/environmental-determinants-of-infectious-diseases-integrating-exposure-science-predictive-analytics-and-ecological-drivers-of-population-level-risk