Temte Team
Bridging Primary Care and Public Health Through the ORCHARDS Study
The Temte Team is dedicated to understanding and mitigating the impact of respiratory viruses on our communities.
Jon Temte, MD, PhD, MS, is a nationally recognized expert in vaccines, immunization policy, and the epidemiology of respiratory viruses. With over 25 years of experience as a family physician and researcher, Dr. Temte has been at the forefront of crafting public health policy. Shari Barlow, research program manager, brings extensive experience in managing complex, multi-year public health studies. Her work is instrumental in translating high-level research goals into community-driven results.
The success of the Temte Team is built on decades of expertise in epidemiology, clinical practice, and research management. Our primary focus is the ORegon CHild Absenteeism due to Respiratory Disease Study (ORCHARDS) project — a long-standing, groundbreaking partnership with the Oregon School District that has served as a national model for community-based surveillance since 2014.
By tracking student absenteeism and identifying the specific viruses circulating in schools, our team provides an early warning system for the broader community for influenza, SARS-CoV-2, and other respiratory outbreaks. Our latest evolution, ORCHARDS-AIR, introduces innovative air surveillance technology to better understand how these pathogens move through shared spaces and homes, helping to shape future public health interventions and keep our families safe.
A Legacy of Collaborative Science
Whether monitoring a K-12 school district or a Big 10 university, Dr. Temte’s research is defined by a single goal: community-level protection. By moving research out of the sterile lab and into the places where people live, learn, and work, the Temte Team continues to pioneer how we predict and respond to the next public health challenge.
Snapshot
Active Study Recruitment:
ORCHARDS-AIR Study
Publications:
Jonathan Temte’s NIH Bibliography
Our Projects
Clinical Foundations: The Influenza Incidence Surveillance Project (IISP)
While ORCHARDS monitors health within the school community, the Temte Team also manages the Wisconsin arm of the Influenza Incidence Surveillance Project (IISP). This long-standing, CDC-funded initiative serves as the clinical counterpart to our school-based research, providing a rigorous look at medically attended influenza.
Operating across five primary care clinics in Dane County, the IISP is a vital piece of the national surveillance puzzle. By analyzing data from patients who actively seek care for respiratory symptoms, the project helps public health officials:
- Calculate Real-World Incidence – Unlike traditional surveillance that only tracks percentages, the IISP determines the actual number of influenza cases per 100,000 people, offering a clearer picture of the virus’s true burden.
- Track Viral Trends – By testing specimens for a broad panel of pathogens — including influenza, RSV, and rhinovirus — the team identifies which viruses are dominating each season and how they evolve over time.
- Inform Vaccine Policy – Data from the IISP has been instrumental in evaluating vaccine effectiveness and understanding why certain age groups, particularly school-aged children, experience higher rates of infection.
A Comprehensive View of Community Health
The synergy between the IISP (clinical) and ORCHARDS (community) allows the Temte Team to bridge the gap between the doctor’s office and the classroom. Together, these projects provide a 360-degree view of respiratory disease — tracking how a virus first enters a school and how it spreads.
UW–Madison Campus SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Temte Team spearheaded the campus-wide surveillance program for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. This project was critical in monitoring viral prevalence among tens of thousands of students and staff, helping university leadership make data-driven decisions regarding campus safety and operational status.