Dr. Dennis Makau is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Nairobi. He is an epidemiologist and applied data scientist working at the intersection of AI, genomics, surveillance, and population health, with a focus on understanding and anticipating health dynamics across interconnected human, animal, and environmental systems. He directs the Population and Epidemiology Data Innovation Lab (PEDIL), where he develops analytical and decision‑support approaches that integrate multi‑stream surveillance, biological, and environmental data. His research centers on infectious disease dynamics, anticipatory epidemiology, and surveillance‑informed decision‑making, bringing together statistical modeling, machine learning, and genomic data. A central focus of his work is making high‑dimensional data interpretable and operationally useful for decision‑making under uncertainty. His broader goal is to translate epidemiologic data into practical strategies that support early attention signals, risk‑informed responses, and more resilient health systems. Dr. Makau is also actively engaged in graduate training and interdisciplinary One Health initiatives that strengthen integration across epidemiology, data science, and population health