My research interests revolve around vectors and vector-borne diseases, especially ticks and tick-borne diseases. I have studied several pathogens of veterinary and medical importance, including the tick-borne bacterial pathogens Francisella sp., Rickettsia sp. Anaplasma sp., and Borrelia sp.; the tick-borne protozoal pathogens Babesia sp. and Theileria sp.; the flea-borne pathogen Rickettsia felis; and, mosquito-borne West Nile virus.
My laboratory studies determinants of tick-borne pathogen infection in the tick vector. We are interested in identifying the mechanisms tick-borne pathogens employ to invade and adapt to tick cells, and the molecular cues driving pathogen replication and transmission from the tick to naïve mammalian hosts.
Research Questions:
- How do tick-borne pathogens infect and persist in tick cells?
- Are there generalized mechanism of entry among tick-borne pathogens when invading tick cells?
- How do tick-borne pathogens subvert the vector in order to persist for extreme periods of time?
- How does competition affect pathogen acquisition and transmission?
- How does intraspecific competition affect pathogen transmission?
- How does interspecific competition affect pathogen transmission?
- How does pathogen fitness affect competition?
- Are the genetic determinants of pathogen fitness important during infection of the mammalian host similarly important during infection of the tick vector? If not, which has a greater impact of disease transmission?
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