Dr. Baker is a microbiologist and epidemiologist whose research aims to generate evidence on household- and community-level environmental causes of enteric pathogen transmission between humans, animals, and the environment to improve the prioritization of interventions and policies that can reduce global enteric disease burden. Her overall goal is help individuals and communities in the US and globally that are vulnerable to environmental pollution and enteric disease achieve equitable access to environmental resources that can prevent pathogen transmission. Her current research includes:

1. Role of societal development in the collapse of Enteric Disease transmission in high burden settings
2. Supplemental food safety and food hygiene interventions to prevent early infancy enteric infections
3. Development of microbiological, spatial, behavioral, and climate exposure assessment methods for use in epidemiological studies
4. Evaluation of low-cost rapid diagnostic tests for enteric pathogens
5. Impact of environmental poverty, especially water, sanitation, and hygiene, in adverse birth outcomes
6. Antimicrobial resistant and enteric pathogen pollution risks from rural well water in Iowa