Photo of Holloway, Alfreda

Alfreda Holloway, PhD '14, MS '07

Research Assistant Professor

Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

About

Alfreda Holloway, PhD, MS, is the Director of Epidemiology at Cook County Department of Public Health.  She earned a bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis, and both a Master of Science and Doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health.  She is a Research Assistant Professor in the Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences where she focuses on surveilling police-caused injury to citizens and occupational injury among police through law enforcement epidemiology.

As the director of epidemiology, she directs and oversees health status assessment for the health department. In this role, she is able to improve the understanding of chronic diseases, injuries, and illnesses in terms of incidence, prevalence, risk factors, spatial, financial, societal, temporal, and demographical aspects.

Dr. Holloway has served as the Chair of Occupational Health and Safety section and President of the Black Caucus of Health Workers at APHA. She is currently the Co-Chair of the Health Equity subcommittee at the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. She is the Co-Chair of the Epidemiology and Health Informatics subcommittee at the Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium.

She was recently honored with the Chicago 40 Game Changers award by Mellody Hobson from Ariel Investments. Dr. Holloway is a Chicago Foundation for Women, Willie's Warrior Alum from the 2024 Cohort 6.

Professional Leadership

Chair of Health Equity, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologist

Chair of Health Informatics and Epidemiology, Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium

Past President of Black Caucus of Health Workers, American Public Health Association

Chair of Occupational Health and Safety, American Public Health Association

Opioid Fatality Review Committee, Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office

COVID-19 Health Equity Policy Statement Committee, American Public Health Association

Notable Honors

2020, 40 Game Changer in Chicago, Ariel Investments & Midway Broadcasting Corp

2015, Crown Jewel Honoree, Top Ladies of Distinction Lincoln Park Chicago Chapter

2013, Michael Bruton Workplace Safety Foundation Award, Michael Burton Foundation

2024, Willie’s Warriors Leadership Initiative, Chicago Foundation for Women

2021, Leading Epidemiologist, Advancing Data Fellow, Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

2018, Cardiovascular Genetics and Epidemiology Fellowship at Washington University School of Medicine, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

2017, Visiting Faculty for Pipelines Biostatistics, Harvard University Chan School of Public Health

Education

PhD (2014), University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. Dissertation: An Assessment of Surveillance and Administrative Data for Law Enforcement Related Injuries

MS (2007), University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Thesis: Outbreak of Acinetobacter baumanii Harboring an OXA-40 Carbapenemase

BA (2002), Washington University in St. Louis, International Studies

Professional Memberships

Cook County Medical Examiner’s Opioid Fatality Review Committee, 2019-2024

Chicago Coronavirus Assessment Network (CAN), Walder Foundation, Review 2020-2022

Illinois and Cook County Data Solutions to Opioid Overdose Crisis Committee, 2020-2022

Cook County Rail Safety Workgroup Committee Member, 2021-2022, Co-Chair

American Public Health Assoc. (APHA), COVID-19 Health Equity Policy Co-author, 2020-2021

American Public Health Assoc. (APHA), Occupational Health & Safety 2020 – 2022 Treasurer

American Public Health Assoc. (APHA), Occupational Health & Safety Section 2019 – 2020 Chair

Black Caucus of Health Workers (BCHW), 2019 – 2020 President, Board Member; Policy Chair

American Public Health Assoc. (APHA), Epidemiology Section, Member

Society of Epidemiologic Research (SER), Abstract Review Committee

Target H.O.P.E. Alumni Association (THAA), 2013 – 2020, President

Society of the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues, Member

Northern Illinois Public Health Consortium, Epidemiology/Health Informatics 2019 – 2024, Co-Chair

Illinois Violence Prevention Task Force – Data Subcommittee Member, 2019-2022

Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), Health Equity, 2020-2024 Co-Chair

Selected Presentations

Abasilim C, Friedman LS, Karch L, Holloway A. Trends in non-fatal and fatal opioid overdoses during the first two years of the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. Ann Epidemiol. 2024 Feb;90:35-41. doi: 10.1016/j.annepidem.2023.10.007. Epub 2023 Oct 29. PMID: 38501569.

Friedman LS, Abasilim C, Karch L, Jasmin W, Holloway A. Disparities in fatal and non-fatal opioid-involved overdoses among middle-aged non-Hispanic Black Men and Women. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities. 2023 Dec 4. doi: 10.1007/s40615-023-01877-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38048043.

Paul F Ehlers, PF., Deitche, A., Wise, LM., Patrick, SL., Holloway, A., Ellison, R., Trecki, J., Gerona, R., Wahl, MS. Notes from the Field: Seizures, hyperthermia, and myocardial injury in three young adults who consumed bromazolam disguised as alprazolam, Suburban Chicago, Illinois, February 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. (Accepted September 2023).

Holloway, A. Quigley, KM., Cole, C., Simckes, M., Friedman, LS, Bauer, M., Roesler, J., Lynfield, R. Position Statement 22-INJ-01 Standardized surveillance case definition for law enforcement-involved injuries and fatal encounters (LEIFE) among community members. Injury Control and Prevention Committee. Voted on and Approved Position Statement. www.cste.org/resource/resmgr/ps/ps2022/22-INJ-01_LEIFE.pdf

Abasilim C, Holloway A, Friedman LS. Description of Opioid-involved Hospital Deaths that Do Not Have a Subsequent Autopsy. Epidemiology. 2023 Jan 1;34(1):111-118. doi:10.1097/EDE.0000000000001543. Epub 2022 Sep 26. PMID: 36156045; PMCID: PMC9719799.

Friedman, L., Holloway, A., Nguyen, N. Opioid Epidemic in Suburban Cook County. February 2021. https://cookcountypublichealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Opioid-Epidemic-in-

Suburban-Cook-County-Report.pdf  

Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths in Cook County, IL, 2018-2019. September 2021. Holloway, A.,  Aikens, B., Kowalski, R., Arunkumar, P., Nowinski Konchak, J., Aks, S. Nguyen, N., Prachand, N.,  Wilnise, J., Kite, H., Karch, L., Holman, D. https://cookcountypublichealth.org/wpcontent/uploads/2021/09/2019-Joint-ReportOpioid_Deaths_CC_Final-Approved.pdf 

Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths in Cook County, IL, 2018-2019. September 2020. Holloway, A., Turner, B., Kite, H., Arunkumar, P., Nowinski Konchak, J., Aks, S., Nguyen, N. Prachand, N.

https://cookcountypublichealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/2017_2018-Joint-Opioid-Brief.pdf 

Babajide R, Carbunaru S, Nettey OS, Watson KS, Holloway A, McDowell T, Ben Levi J, Stinson J, Hollowell CMP, Dalton DP, Moore L, Kittles RA, Gann PH, Schaeffer EM, Murphy AB. Performance of Prostate Health Index (PHI) in Biopsy-Naïve Black Men. J Urol. 2020. doi: 10.1097/JU.0000000000001453.

M Novak, M Wahl, L Friedman, A Holloway. Incidence & Injury due to hydrocarbon abuse: Fluorinated inhalants vs. other hydrocarbons. Clinical Toxicology 57 (10), 1023-1023. North American Congress of Clinical Toxicology (NACCT) Abstracts 2019, Clinical Toxicology, 57:10, 870-1052, DOI: 10.1080/15563650.2019.1636569

 Holloway, A., Rubin, R., Joshi, K., Murray, L. R., & Friedman, L. (2019). A 5-Year  Retrospective Analysis of Legal Intervention Injuries and Mortality in Illinois. International Journal of Health Services, 49(3), 606–622. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020731419836080   

Dong, S., West, G., Holloway, A.,Wang, X, Sokas, R. (2019). Heat-related deaths among construction workers in the United States. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Dec;62(12):10471057. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23024.

Watson, K.S., Henderson, V, Murray, M., Murphy, A.B, Levi J.B., McDowell, T., Holloway, A., Gogana, P., Dixon, M.A., Moore, L., Hall, I., Kimbrough, A., Molina, Y., Winn, R.A. “Engaging African American men as Citizen Scientist to Validate a Prostate Cancer Biomarker: Work-in Progress.” Progress in Community Health Partnerships. 2019;13(5):103-112.

Holloway, A., Forst, L., Lippert, J., Brandt-Rauf, S., Freels, S., Friedman, L.  “Risk Factors Associated with Legal Intervention.” Injury Epidemiology, 2016; 3 (2): 1-9.

Holloway, A., Forst, L., Brandt-Rauf, S., Freels, S., Friedman, L.   "Occupational Injury  Surveillance among Law Enforcement Officers Using Workers' Compensation Data, Illinois 19802008."  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2016, Jun; 58(6): 594-600. doi:10.1097/JOM.0000000000000708.

Forst, L., Holloway, A., Kader, A., Kimmel, L., Martino, C., Oschner, M., Ringholm, E.,  Rodriguez, E., Ahonen, E., Zanoni., Sokas, R.K. “More than Training: Community-based  Participatory Research to Reduce Injuries Among Hispanic Construction Workers.” American Journal of Industrial Medicine; no. 8: 827-37, 2013. doi: 10.1002/ajim.22187

Schneider, J. Dude, A. Dinaker, M. Kumar, V. Laumann, E. Holloway, A. Oruganti, G. Saluja, G. Chundi, V. Yeldandi, V. Mayer, K. “General Hygiene, Sexual Risk Behavior and HIV Prevalence in Truck Drivers from Andhra Pradesh, South India: Implications for Prevention Interventions.” International Journal of STD & AIDS. 2009; 20 (1): 39-45. doi:10.1258/ijsa.2008.008163.

Marwitz, K., Gaudino, J.A., Williams, C., Seneca, D.S., Smith, S.E., Holloway, A., Rosen, J., Landsbergis, P.  American Public Health Policy Statement: Call for Urgent Actions to Address  Health Inequities in the U.S. Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic and Response. APHA 2021.