Sarah L. Lathrop, DVM, PhD

Biography

Dr. Lathrop, received her undergraduate education at Colorado State University and earned her DVM from the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine. She practiced veterinary medicine in Cortez, Colorado, and then completed a PhD in veterinary preventive medicine at Ohio State University. Dr. Lathrop served a two-year post-doctoral fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer, studying vector-borne infectious diseases such as plague, tularemia, and dengue.

After a brief stint in industry overseeing clinical vaccine trials, Dr. Lathrop joined OMI in 2003 to conduct epidemiological studies using medical examiner data. She also serves as the Principal Investigator for the FoodNet portion of New Mexico's Emerging Infections Program. Research interests include the intersection of forensic pathology and epidemiology, public health topics such as trends in violent deaths and sudden unexpected infant death investigation, as well as investigation of foodborne infections.

Areas of Specialty

• The intersection of epidemiology and forensic science
• Zoonotic diseases
• One Health Initiative
• Transmission of/surveillance for foodborne diseases

Education

Doctor of Philosophy
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Veterinary Preventive Medicine
1999

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
St. Paul, Minnesota
1993

Bachelor of Science
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, Colorado
Highest honors and completion of University Honors Program
Animal Science
1989

Key Publications

• Singh VD, Lathrop SL. Role of the Medical Examiner in Zika Virus and Other Emerging Infections. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2017 Jan;141(1):82-84. doi: 10.5858/arpa.2016-0327-SA. PMID: 27608262
• LeBlanc MR, Clifford CP, Lathrop SL. Evaluation of Non-Natural Deaths among Veterans: New Mexico Medical Examiner-Investigated Deaths, 2002-2011. J Forensic Sci. 2016 Dec 21. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13333. [Epub ahead of print] PMID:28000209
• Miller CR, Haag M, Gerrard C, Hatch GM, Elifritz J, Simmons MC, Lathrop S, Nolte KB. Comparative Evaluation of Potentially Radiolucent Projectile Components by Radiographs and Computed Tomography. J Forensic Sci. 2016 Nov;61(6):1563-1570. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13225. PMID:27787896
• Levy B, Spelke B, Paulozzi LJ, Bell JM, Nolte KB, Lathrop S, Sugerman DE, Landen M. Recognition and response to opioid overdose deaths-New Mexico, 2012. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2016 Oct 1;167:29-35. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.07.011. PMID:27507658
• Szymanski LJ, Aurelius MB, Szymanski SA, Lathrop SL. Suicidal Drug Overdoses in New Mexico: A 5-year Retrospective Review. J Forensic Sci. 2016 May;61(3):661-5. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13014. PMID:27122402
• Huang JY, Henao OL, Griffin PM, Vugia DJ, Cronquist AB, Hurd S, Tobin-D'Angelo M, Ryan P, Smith K, Lathrop S, Zansky S, Cieslak PR, Dunn J, Holt KG, Wolpert BJ, Patrick ME. Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food and the Effect of Increasing Use of Culture-Independent Diagnostic Tests on Surveillance—Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 U.S. Sites, 2012-2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016 Apr 15;65(14):368-71. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6514a2. PMID:27077946
• Conner KR, Lathrop S, Caetano R, Silenzio V, Nolte KB. Blood Alcohol Concentrations in Suicide and Motor Vehicle Crash Decedents Ages 18 to 54. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016 Apr;40(4):772-5. doi: 10.1111/acer.13002. PMID:26926463
• Larsen CP, Beggs ML, Wilson JD, Lathrop SL. Prevalence and organ distribution of leukocyte chemotactic factor 2 amyloidosis (ALECT2) among decedents in New Mexico. Amyloid. 2016 Jun;23(2):119-23. doi: 10.3109/13506129.2016.1145110. PMID:26912093
• Conner KR, Lathrop S, Caetano R, Silenzio V, Nolte KB. Blood Alcohol Concentrations in Suicide and Motor Vehicle Crash Decedents Ages 18 to 54. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2016 Mar 1. doi: 10.1111/acer.13002. [Epub ahead of print]
• Larsen CP, Beggs ML, Wilson JD, Lathrop SL. Prevalence and organ distribution of leukocyte chemotactic factor 2 amyloidosis (ALECT2) among decedents in New Mexico. Amyloid. 2016 Feb 25:1-5. [Epub ahead of print]
• Vugia DJ, Meek JI, Danila RN, Jones TF, Schaffner W, Baumbach J, Lathrop S, Farley MM, Tobin-D’Angelo M, Miller L, Harrison LH, Bennett NM, Cieslak PR, Cartter ML, Reingold AL. Training in infectious disease epidemiology through the Emerging Infections Programs Sites. Emerging Infectious Diseases, September 2015, 21 (9); 1516-19.
• Mody R, Gu W, Griffin PM, Jones TF, Rounds J, Shiferaw B, Tobin-D’Angelo M, Smith G, Spina N, Hurd S, Lathrop S, Palmer A, Boothe E, Luna-Gierke RE, Hoekstra RM. Postdiarrheal Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome among over 750 Children in the United States: Clinical Spectrum and Predictors of In-Hospital Death. Journal of Pediatrics, 2015 April 166(4): 1022-9.
• Crim SM, Griffin PM, Tauxe R, Marder EP, Gilliss D, Cronquist AB, Cartter M, Tobin-D'Angelo M, Blythe D, Smith K, Lathrop S, Zansky S, Cieslak PR, Dunn J, Holt KG, Wolpert B, Henao OL; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Preliminary incidence and trends of infection with pathogens transmitted commonly through food—Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 U.S. sites, 2006-2014. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2015 May 15;64(18):495-9.
• Pincus JL, Lathrop SL, Briones AJ, Andrews SW, Aurelius MB. Lightning deaths: A retrospective review, 1977-2009. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2015 Jan; 60(1):66-71.
• Snyder VS, Andrews SW, Curry CR, Lathrop SL, Matshes EW. An evaluation of the utility of postmortem computed tomography in the diagnosis of lethal coronary artery atherosclerosis and hypertensive heart disease. Academic Forensic Pathology, March 1, 2015.
• Lathrop SL. “Childhood Fatalities in New Mexico: Medical Examiner-Investigated Cases, 2000-2010,” Journal of Forensic Sciences, Epub 2013 Mar 12.
• Berry RB, Aurelius MB, Barickman N, Lathrop S. Utility of a Grief Services Program for Medical Examiners' Offices.Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2013 March , Vol. 58, No. 2, 380-384.
• Chai SJ, White PL, Lathrop SL, Solghan SM, Medus C, McGlinchey BM, Tobin-D'Angelo M, Marcus R, Mahon BE. Salmonella enterica Serotype Enteritidis: Increasing Incidence of Domestically Acquired Infections. Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Jun;54 Suppl 5:S488-97.
• Hale CR, Scallan E, Cronquist AB, Dunn J, Smith K, Robinson T, Lathrop S, Tobin-D'Angelo M. Clogher P. Estimates of enteric illness attributable to contact with animals and their environments in the United States. Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Jun;54 Suppl 5:S472-9.
• Komar DA and Lathrop SL. Patterns of Trauma in Conflict Victims from Timor Leste. Journal of Forensic Sciences January 2012, Vol. 57 (1); 3-5.
• Shah N, Lathrop S, Flores J, Landen M. Reduced Risk of Unintentional Drug Overdose Death among U.S. Residents Living along the U.S.-Mexico Border, New Mexico (USA), 2005-2009. Drug Abuse and Addiction, 125 (2012) 19-26.
• Krinsky CS, Lathrop SL, Baker G, Zumwalt RE. A Toxicology-Based Review of Fentanyl-Related Deaths in New Mexico (1986- 2007). American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 2011 Dec;32(4):347-351.
• Lathrop, SL. “Forensic pathology and epidemiology, public health and population-based research,” Academic Forensic Pathology, November 2011.
• Lathrop SL, Dick TB, Nolte KB. Fatal wrong-way collisions on New Mexico’s interstate highways, 1990-2004. Journal of Forensic Sciences, March 2010, Vol. 55. No. 2, 432-437.
• Styka A, White D, Zumwalt RE, Lathrop SL. Trends in adult suicides in New Mexico: Utilizing data from the New Mexico Violent Death Reporting System. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2010 January; 55 (1):93-99.
• Lee CK and Lathrop SL. Child abuse-related homicides in New Mexico: A six-year retrospective review, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2010 January; 55 (1):100-103.