Dr. Gerdes is an assistant professor of technical communication and rhetoric at Virginia Tech. She studies institutional communication about and during public health emergencies of international concern (PHEICs). Her forthcoming book, Infectious Urgency: The Making of an International Public Health Emergency moves from spillover to the circulation of behavior messages to examine concepts of rhetoric, time, and risk in PHEIC communication. Her work employs participatory methodologies by working with community organizations to identify and respond to localized communication needs. Gerdes has previously worked on infectious disease response and supply chain management projects in global health.