Scientific Research

As a veterinarian, I am most interested in the physiological, immunological, and pathological processes occurring inside hosts in response to infectious disease pressures; I like to look at hosts as complex, internal ecosystems. Why do hosts get the infections that they do, when they do? What makes some hosts more susceptible than others, and what drives seasonal susceptibility? How do current infections affect hosts’ abilities to fight off other infectious agents? I am particularly interested in the immunomodulatory effects of macroparasite infections. 

For my PhD work, I studied coinfection trade-offs in wild herbivores in a natural anthrax and gastrointestinal parasite system in Namibia. My postdoctoral research involved non-human primates in Kenya, examining issues of immunological resistance and tolerance and the interactions between hosts, parasites, and the host microbiome. My underlying goal has always been to bring immunology out of controlled laboratory settings, and to build off of the work that others have conducted in animal models by ground-truthing it in more variable natural systems.

When working in biotechnology, I am particularly interested in bridging the gap between industry and academia, especially in terms of sharing data, automation resources, and experimental learnings. I also work to make scientific publishing and communication more accessible and to bring diverse minds together to solve complex, forward-looking problems such as understanding the ecological implications of bio-based production and planning for the democratic distribution of biotechnological resources.