Biomedical Sciences

My research is focused on host-parasite interactions and the impacts of ecological and evolutionary factors on these interactions. Current projects include:1. Production of monoclonal antibodies that recognize a number of zebrafish cytokines and characterization of the zebrafish immune response, 2. Development and characterization of an elevated temperature zebrafish model, primarily for the study of the apicomplexan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, 3. Improvement of diagnostic techniques for the detection of important veterinary parasites such as Giardia intestinalis and the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, 4. Identification and characterization of the transmission dynamics of aquatic pathogens. This work is being performed with salmonid fishes in the wild as well as with laboratory zebrafish in order to determine the factors involved in prespawn mortality of salmonids and to guide diagnostic efforts aimed at improving the health of zebrafish in laboratory fish colonies.