Jennifer Horney

Professor and Director, Epidemiology University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Jennifer Horney's research focuses on the health impacts of disasters and public health emergencies including climate change.

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1 min

Study forecasted deadly flash flooding in Texas years ago

The catastrophic flooding of the Guadalupe River in Kerr County, Texas, took place at lightning speed, catching everyone off guard. But the University of Delaware's Jennifer Horney says the risk of flash flooding in the area has been increasing for more than two decades. Horney, an epidemiologist and disaster researcher at the University of Delaware, studied flash flooding in that specific area while at Texas A&M University. She can discuss the following: This area of Central Texas was designated as “Flash Flood Alley” in 2005 by the Flood Safety Education Program. It has long had high risk from flash flooding, which have been predicted to increase in intensity. Flash Flood Alley is the area along the Balcones Escarpment, with river valleys and steep limestone cliffs. Extreme rainfall events – the heaviest 1% of all events – have increased in frequency and magnitude by 30% since 1960. Urbanization and population growth in this area put more people at risk and the annual number of flood fatalities in Texas typically exceeds that of all other states. Several gaps in public risk perception persist even as risks increase with few understanding the life-threatening risks of these events. To arrange an interview with Horney, visit her profile and click on the "contact" button; or contact UD media relations.

Jennifer Horney

1 min

Fast-striking and unpredictable, tornadoes pose major challenges for emergency planners

At least 20 U.S. states have been hit with tornadoes – some of them deadly – over the past week. Experts from the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center can speak to the difficulty of drawing up plans in advance of tornadoes, which can develop quickly and unexpectedly, as well as a variety of topics related to storm preparedness, evacuations and recovery. Those experts include: Jennifer Horney: Environmental impacts of disasters and potential public health impacts for chronic and infectious diseases. Horney, who co-authored a paper on the increase in tornado outbreaks, can talk about how impacts on the morbidity and mortality that result from tornadoes. Tricia Wachtendorf: Evacuation decision-making, disaster response and coordination, disaster relief (donations) and logistics, volunteer and emergent efforts, social vulnerability. James Kendra: Disaster response, nursing homes and hospitals, volunteers, response coordination. Jennifer Trivedi: Challenges for people with disabilities during disaster, cultural issues and long-term recovery. Sarah DeYoung: Pets in emergencies, infant feeding in disasters and decision-making in evacuation. A.R. Siders: Expert on sea level rise and managed retreat – the concept of planned community movement away from flood-prone areas. To reach these experts directly, visit their profile and click on the contact button.

Jennifer HorneyTricia WachtendorfJames KendraSarah DeYoungJennifer TrivediA.R. Siders

1 min

Spring break could compound West Texas measles outbreak

Most Texas schools go on spring break this week, which could be a major issue compounding the ongoing measles outbreak in West Texas, said Jennifer Horney, an epidemiologist at the University of Delaware. The outbreak, which has grown to more than 200 cases and claimed the life of a child last week, is likely to continue to grow as new cases are identified in both surrounding communities as well as other states, Horney said. Horney, founding director of UD's epidemiology program, can also comment on vaccination of measles, which is one of the most highly contagious infectious diseases. Through maintenance of vaccination coverage of greater than 90%, the U.S. was able to gain eradication status in 2000. Although there have been sporadic cases, and even outbreaks, since then, worsening vaccine hesitancy has led to vaccination rates in some communities of 80% or lower. According to data, of 20 outbreaks involving three or more cases reported in the last five years, 40% were in 2024. With outbreaks currently in at least nine states in the U.S., 2025 looks to be a very bad year for measles infections. Visit Horney's profile below and click on "contact" to arrange an interview.

Jennifer Horney
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Biography

Jennifer Horney is Professor and Founding Director of the Program in Epidemiology and Core Faculty at the Disaster Research Center at the University of Delaware. Her research focuses on measuring the health impacts of disasters, as well as the linkages between disaster planning and household actions related to preparedness, response, and recovery. Dr. Horney received her Ph.D. and MPH from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was a member of a team of public health practitioners who responded to Hurricanes Isabel, Charley, Katrina, Wilma, Irene, and Harvey where she conducted rapid assessments of disaster impact on public health. She has also provided technical assistance to public health agencies globally around disasters, infectious disease outbreaks, and pandemic influenza planning and response.

Industry Expertise

Research
Health and Wellness

Areas of Expertise

Epidemiology
epidemic
COVID-19
Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response
Rapid Assessment
Applied Epidemiology
Outbreak Investigations
Disaster Epidemiology
Coronavirus
Pandemic

Answers

Is the new COVID variant, Pirola, cause for concern?
Jennifer Horney

The real concern will be the number of mutations on Pirola's spike protein and the recent approval of the boosters that target the current dominant variant, Omicron. We don’t know how effective that booster – which just became available after Sept. 12, 2023 – will be.

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Media Appearances

New Covid FLiRT variants spark concerns of a summer spike

CNBC  online

2024-05-26

It currently seems unlikely that the new strains will cause a major wave of infections as seen in the past when public immunity was lower, said Jennifer Horney, professor of epidemiology at the University of Delaware.

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Pandemic? What pandemic? Four years later, coronavirus no factor in 2024 Biden-Trump rematch

Palm Beach Post  print

2024-03-13

Jennifer Horney, professor and director of UD's epidemiology program, added to the argument that more discussion should be taking place regarding the impact and outcomes of the pandemic. "It is pretty clear that we had a larger share of deaths in the U.S. than proportionally should have been expected," she said.

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6 people died by suicide in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Experts fear more.

Tampa Bay Times  online

2023-09-27

Article quotes Jennifer Horney, epidemiology, who studies 281 natural disasters in the U.S. and found suicide rates leapt the highest two years post-disaster. “Recovery can be so long and arduous and expensive."

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Articles

Online Guidance for Domestic Violence Survivors and Service Providers: A COVID-19 Content Analysis

Violence Against Women

2023

To assess COVID-19 information and services available to domestic violence service providers, survivors, and racially and culturally specific communities in the U.S., a content analysis of 80 national and state/territorial coalition websites was performed in June 2020. COVID-19 information was available on 84% of websites. National organizations provided more information for survivors related to safety and mental health and for racially and culturally specific communities. State/territorial coalitions provided more information for providers on COVID-19 and general disaster preparedness. COVID-19 and social distancing measures implemented to control it diminished help-seeking in unique ways. Greater online access to information and resources may be needed to address changing needs of survivors during disasters and emergencies.

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Critical facility accessibility and road criticality assessment considering flood-induced partial failure

Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure

2023

This paper examines communities’ accessibility to critical facilities such as hospitals, emergency medical services, and emergency shelters when facing flooding. We use travel speed reduction to account for flood-induced partial road failure. A modified betweenness centrality metric is also introduced to calculate the criticality of roads for connecting communities to critical facilities. The proposed model and metric are applied to the Delaware road network under 100-year floods. This model highlights the severe critical facility access loss risk due to flood isolation of facilities. The mapped post-flooding accessibility suggests a significant travel time increase to critical facilities and reveals disparities among communities, especially for vulnerable groups such as long-term care facility residents. We also identified critical roads that are vital for post-flooding access to critical facilities. The results of this research can help inform targeted infrastructure investment decisions and hazard mitigation strategies that contribute to equitable community resilience enhancement.

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Applying and Integrating Urban Contamination Factors into Community Garden Siting

Journal of Geovisualization and Spatial Analysis

2022

Local agricultural production provides opportunities for communities to cultivate resilience in local food supply systems, especially in urban areas underserved by supermarkets or other sources of fresh, affordable, healthy foods. While suitability analyses have traditionally been used to identify suitable locations for community-based food gardens, these models do not typically account for the potential for exposure to pollutants in urban settings, including contamination from industry, transportation infrastructure, or other sources. Using the city of Houston, Texas, as a case study, this paper describes a proposed suitability analysis for siting urban gardens that includes a pollution hazard index in addition to more typical criteria such as size, slope, and solar access. Geographical information systems spatial analyses were employed to determine if existing community gardens in Houston, Texas, are appropriately sited when a composite pollution hazard index score was added as a siting criteria. Results suggest a need to better optimize community garden siting to attenuate both disparate access to fresh produce and reduce risk of urban horticultural environmental exposure to contaminants in many areas.

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Education

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PhD

Epidemiology

2009

Languages

  • English
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