Eric Bakota is a public health professional with Harris County Public Health. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he came to Houston in 2003 to attend the University of Houston, where he earned his BA in English and MS in Biology. He left Houston briefly, twice. Once for Sacramento and another for Peoria, IL. In both instances, it was his insatiable love for Houston’s food that brought him back. He is constantly impressed with Houston’s ability to reinvent itself for the better.
His entire career has been as a civil servant in local public health, including 3 years with the Houston Health Department before joining Harris County Public Health in 2017. There he helps support internal scientific activities, such as writing, publishing, and submitting abstracts for conferences. He also manages the Opioid Surveillance team.
He sees himself working in the space between data science and policy. He is a principal author for the “Third Edition of Epidemiology-in-Review for Houston” and “Harris Cares: A 2020 Vision of Health in Harris County.” The latter of which provides a comprehensive review of health and healthcare in Harris County, along with 5 transformational recommendations to meaningfully address the social determinants of health. Follow him on Twitter @ericbakota