Biography

Brian Labus is an expert on communicable disease surveillance, disease epidemiology, outbreak investigation, and the use of social media to detect and investigate health problems in the community.

Labus is an associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics within UNLV's School of Public Health. Prior to joining UNLV, he spent 15 years as a senior investigator for the Southern Nevada Health District conducting outbreak investigations and disease surveillance, and implementing public health informatics systems. He was the lead public health investigator for the largest outbreak of healthcare-acquired Hepatitis C in U.S. history.

From 2020 to 2023, Labus was selected to serve on Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak's five-member Medical Advisory Team, a statewide task force that helped guide community organizations and businesses on the scientific aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. At UNLV, he also a led a team of over 200 student contact tracers and participated in various aspects of the university's coronavirus response.

Labus — a Registered Environmental Health Specialist through the National Environmental Health Association — is currently studying healthcare-acquired infections, including Nevada's Candida auris outbreak, and is helping to create public health workforce development projects for the Silver State.

His research and expertise have been featured in numerous news outlets such as the New York Times, CNN, LA Times, NPR, and more. His work has also been featured in academic and professional publications including the Twenty-Eighth Annual Conference on Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Nevada Journal of Public Health, Epidemiology and Infection, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.