Research Area: Disease Ecology and Evolution

Our research is directed at characterizing structures and biological function of biogenic small molecules (BSMs) that regulate development and immune responses in plants and animals and serve important functions with associated microbiota. Using comparative metabolomic approaches we have engaged in a comprehensive effort to characterize[...]

Dr. Schang uses small molecules with drug-like properties to probe the ways viruses cause infections. He is most interested in finding common features among the many viruses that cause disease in animals or humans, including how they enter cells and how they replicate and cause[...]

My program is focused on drug discovery and the pathogenesis of infectious human disease. We work closely with the Gates Foundation and the California Institute for Biomedical Research to run high-throughput drug screening on Mycobacterium tuberculosis within the context of the host. We also have human subjects[...]

A main driver of vector-borne disease transmission is the ecology of the insect vector. Changes in climate and land use alter ecological relationships insect vectors have with their hosts and pathogens, resulting in shifts in transmission. The research in the Murdock lab applies ecological and[...]

We study the evolution of vertebrate gut microbes. Our work focuses on the co-evolutionary histories of animals and their microbiota using a combination of omics approaches, gnotobiotic experiments, and field studies. Students will gain experience in anaerobic bacterial culturing, genome sequencing workflows, and comparative genomics bioinformatics[...]

We study how pathogens influence pollinator health. Students collect data on plant-pollinator visitation networks, pathogen prevalence in bees and at flowers, pathogen replication and impacts on host survival, or conduct manipulative experiments to understand transmission parameters. The overall goal of our work is to improve[...]

Our research is focused on understanding how plants protect themselves against microbial pathogens at molecular and cellular levels. Major goals are to determine the mechanisms of salicylic acid (SA) activation and regulation of the plant’s immune responses, and to identify new targets or aspirin (acetyl[...]

The research in the Kessler Lab focuses on the ecology and evolution of plant chemical defenses (secondary metabolites) to pathogens and herbivores and the role of soil microbial communities to affect and be affected by plant secondary metabolism. Thus we try to understand how microbially-mediated[...]

My research is focused on the eukaryotic cell DNA damage response (DDR) to a novel bacterial genotoxin called cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) within the context of intestinal disease of human and animals. I also have extensive experience in the development and assessment of laboratory animal[...]

We study the molecular evolution and population genetics of the immune system in Drosophila and other insects, specifically focusing on comparative genomics and transcriptional regulation of the immune response. We also explore host genetic variation in microbiome composition and function in a large human twin study and[...]