Collaborators

I’m a seasoned and globally-trained virologist, research scientist, and educator working to better understand the effects of tick-borne viruses on human and animal health.

My area of expertise is the biocontainment of high consequence virus research and discovery as done through effective project design and management, data analysis and interpretation, and development and implementation of research tools. I enjoy generating new ideas and devising feasible solutions to broadly relevant problems.

What makes my research unique is that we are studying the pathogenesis and transmission of tick-borne hemorrhagic fever viruses such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever under maximum biocontainment conditions in the BSL4 labs at UTMB’s Galveston National Laboratory.

I am passionate about serving as a resource and advocate for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, via career and professional development endeavors. My experience as a PhD scientist allows me to directly relate to and mentor junior scientists as they progress in their studies and professional careers. With a keen focus on their success, The students, postdocs, and visiting scientists who trained in my lab have gone on to distinguished positions in academia, government, and industry.

I am skilled in:

• Instructional design and directing trans-disciplinary educational programs across multi-site campuses, such as the award-winning Field Experience in One Health and Outbreak Investigation course.
• Diagnostics for tick-borne viruses
• Development of host-tick transmission models and study of tick-borne virus parthenogenesis
• Science communication
• Grant writing
• Public speaking

Faculty Page: https://microbiology.utmb.edu/faculty/dennis-a-bente-dvm-phd

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisbente/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenteLab

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bente_lab/

Gregory C. Gray MD, MPH is a Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology in the Departments of Internal Medicine (Division of Infectious Diseases), Microbiology & Immunology, and Global Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Professor Gray received his medical degree, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Medicine, Birmingham, Alabama; his master’s in public health degree from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene & Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; and his bachelor of science degree from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He underwent residency training at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, District of Columbia. His medical boards are in Preventive Medicine and Public Health.

Dr. Gray has conducted diverse epidemiological studies of infectious diseases for 25 years in 5 continents. He has authored more than 380 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. His published works have been cited by others more than 20,000 times (H-index 75 by Google Scholar).

Much of his work has involved identifying risk factors for occupational diseases, particularly for respiratory virus infections. He has studied numerous occupational groups including farmers, animal breeders, veterinarians, military personnel, turkey workers, poultry workers, horse workers, hunters, and pig workers. A strong supporter for the One Health approach, he has won multiple One Health research and training grants, helped to established centers of One Health (USA, Romania, China) and developed four graduate programs in One Health (PhD, MHS, and certificates).

Professor Gray is a Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society.

Related links:

• Infectious Disease Web Bio
• LinkedIn Profile
• One Health Website
• PubMed Profile

Gary Kobinger, PhD, is the new Director of the Galveston National Laboratory, one of the largest active biocontainment facilities on an academic campus. Dr. Kobinger has co-authored over 300 peer-reviewed scientific manuscripts and 20 years of experience working in or managing high-containment laboratories. His research presently focuses on developing and testing new vaccine platforms and immune treatments against pathogens of high consequences to global public health. Serving the international community, Dr. Kobinger sits on several committees.

Research Interests

Global Health, preparedness and response to infectious events of public health concerns, biosafety and biosecurity.

Microbiology Bio

Dr. McLellan is Professor in the Infectious Diseases Division at UTMB, Medical Director of the Biocontainment Treatment Unit, and Director of Biosafety for Research-related Infectious Pathogens. She has over 20 years of experience in medical and public health education and in the clinical care of and public health response to emerging infectious diseases. She has participated in outbreak and disaster response in various resource-poor settings, including as a clinical consultant for WHO during the West Africa and DRC Ebola outbreaks, providing direct care as well as assessment of treatment units and support of clinical trials of medical therapies. In her position at UTMB her focus is on improving the clinical care of individuals infected with high containment pathogens in both high and low resource settings and in developing programs for integrated response to pandemic threats.

Interests: Pandemic preparedness and response, tropical medicine, the delivery of medical care in resource-poor areas, care and research in biocontainment care setting.

Dr. Melby joined the Division of Infectious Disease in 2010 as Professor and Director of the UTMB Center for Tropical Diseases. Prior to coming to UTMB he was on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio for 20 years. He received his M.D. at the University of Colorado, completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri, a research fellowship in the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the National Institutes of Health, and a clinical infectious diseases fellowship at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio. Dr. Melby has an active research program related to the immunopathogenesis of parasitic diseases, with a particular focus on leishmaniasis. His laboratory has been involved in vaccine development, studies to determine immunopathological mechanisms of disease, studies to define the impact of malnutrition on innate immunity, antileishmanial drug discovery, and development of point-of-care diagnostics for neglected tropical diseases. Dr. Melby has active research and training in a number of resource-limited parts of the world. In January 2017, Dr. Melby assumed the position of Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UTMB. With the rest of the Division, he is focused on advancing programs of excellence in clinical care and training, and research in global infectious diseases.

Bill T. Ameredes, MS, PhD, is a Full Professor with tenure in Pharmacology & Toxicology, and Internal Medicine; earned his master’s in biology at the University of Akron, his doctorate in physiology from The Ohio State University, and did his post-doctoral training at the University of Florida, at Gainesville. He has been at UTMB for over 15 years, with the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Among his many outstanding research accomplishments and honors, his work has been consistently funded by the NIH, ALA, AHA, and pharma since 1983. He has been the Principal Investigator of the UTMB NIEHS T32-supported Environmental Toxicology Training Program, and the William C. Levin Endowed Chair, in Environmental Toxicology, since 2009, as well as being the KL2 Scholars Program Principal Investigator/Program Director of the NIH/NCATS–funded Clinical Translational Science Award (CTSA) at UTMB, since 2012, and an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Applied Physiology since 2007, having over 100 peer-reviewed research publications.

His disease interests include asthma, COPD, and lung fibrosis, with specific research interests in pulmonary toxicology, lung function, airway reactivity, airway cytokine networking, and mechanisms of environmental toxicant-associated lung injury. Among his distinctive accomplishments in education and mentorship, he has been a University of Texas System Distinguished Teaching Professor and member of the Academy of Master Teachers since 2008, and was a Founding Member and Vice Chair of the Academy of Research Mentors. He was also awarded the UTMB Class of 1947 Endowed Professorship for Excellence in Education.

Associated webpages:

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology Bio

Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine 

NIEHS T32-supported Environmental Toxicology Training Program

Inhalation Toxicology Core Facility

Institute for Translational Science/CTSA KL2 Scholars Program

UTMB Academy of Master Teachers

Marli Azevedo, MSc, PhD is a Research Microbiologist at the National Center for Toxicological Research, Food and Drug Administration in Jefferson, AR. Prior to that, Dr. Azevedo was a research scientist and adjunct assistant professor at Food Animal Health Research Program at The Ohio State University. Dr. Marli Azevedo earned a Ph.D. in virus immunology at The Ohio State University, focusing on vaccine design and enteric virus pathogenesis.

Before joining the FDA, Dr. Azevedo dedicated 10 years studying rotavirus immunity. Using gnotobiotic pigs, because of their similarity to human babies. Dr. Azevedo demonstrated viremia and virus infection in the respiratory tract of gnotobiotic piglets after infection with rotavirus. In addition, Dr. Azevedo has studied immune responses to rotavirus and norovirus to identify correlates of protective immunity after vaccination. Furthermore, she has tested and evaluated the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of several candidate human rotavirus vaccines and demonstrated the potential to use these vaccines against rotavirus disease in children. Dr. Azevedo’s current studies are focused on respiratory and enteric viruses.

Dr. Azevedo’s lab has cloned and expressed the Spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2, HCoV-NL-63 and HCoV-HUK1. These proteins have been used to generate polyclonal antibody that will allow further studies of coronavirus related disease. Her lab has also generated stable cell lines expressing the non-structural proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and generated cell lines expressing both CD32A and ACE-2 receptor. She is currently investigating the role of spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 on immune mediated pathogenesis and the role of non-structural proteins in COVID-19 morbidity.

https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/science-research-nctr/marli-azevedo

Ralph S. Baric, PhD is the University of North Carolina Kenan Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine. He earned a BS in Zoology and a PhD in Microbiology from North Carolina State University. He performed postdoctoral research in virology and immunology at the University of Southern California before joining the faculty at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Baric’s research focuses on the pathogenesis and emergence mechanisms of RNA viruses, focusing on coronaviruses, flaviviruses and noroviruses. His group has made seminal contributions in virus genetics, identifying host susceptibility genes that regulate virus pathogenesis and emergence, and studying mechanisms of virus cross species transmission, pathogenesis, and virulence. His laboratory participated in the development of several antiviral drugs (remdesivir, molnupiravir), therapeutic antibodies and vaccines (Moderna, Jennsen) targeting the SARS-CoV2 virus which is responsible for the COVID19 pandemic.

He is a member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and American Society for Virology. He is a Harvey Weaver Scholar from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and an Established Investigator from the American Heart Association. He served as chair-elect and subsequently the chair of ASM Division T, RNA viruses. He was a finalist for the World Technology Award, a senior editor for Plos Pathogens, and member of the Journal of Virology editorial board. He was a standing member of the NIH VirB study section from 2005-2009 and is a current member of NIH CMIA study section (2020-). He received the Innovation/Inspiration Award for UNC Faculty Research, the Lifetime achievement award from the Triangle Business Journal, Norma Berryhill Distinguished Lecturer, the UNC System’s O’ Max Gardner Award recipient and the North Carolina’s Governor’s Award recipient. He is a fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology and the National Academy of Sciences. At the Congressional Biomedical Research Congress in early 2020, Baric updated the House of Representative members and staffs regarding the dangers of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, including research priorities and strategies to mitigate risk

Miguel M. Cabada MD MSc FASTMH is a physician scientist expert in tropical and travel medicine. He is an Associate Professor at the Division of Infectious Diseases of University of Texas Medical Branch. He went to medical school in Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima – Peru and then pursued training as a post-doc in tropical medicine research at the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute in UPCH working in the jungle and highlands of Peru for 5 years. He completed his internal medicine residency in Jackson Memorial Hospital-University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and infectious diseases fellowship at University of Texas Medical Branch. He holds a master’s degree in clinical research from the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences from University of Texas Medical Branch.  

Dr. Cabada is the founding Director of the UPCH-UTMB Collaborative Research Center in Cusco – Peru where his research program is located. He has 20 years of experience in epidemiological research and has led multidisciplinary teams performing field and translational research on neglected tropical diseases in the highlands and jungle of Peru. He has appointments at UTMB and the Alexander von Humboldt Tropical Medicine Institute and a broad network of collaborators to work in international research projects. Dr. Cabada was elected Chair of the Global Infectious Diseases Research Network from UTMB’s Center for Tropical Diseases, a Latin American multi-site network focused on the study of emerging etiologies of acute undifferentiated febrile syndromes. He led the implementation of the field research components and training of the network members. Dr. Cabada holds leadership positions at the Latin American Society of Travel Medicine, International Society of Travel Medicine, and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He has served as a consult for the Peruvian Government on Fasciola hepatica and was part of the team of experts assembled by PAHO to draft the country’s guidelines on treatment and control. 

Johnny D. Callahan, MT(ASCP), PhD is the Veterinary Diagnostics Business Development Manager, and United States Department of Agriculture / Center of Veterinary Biologics Regulatory Affairs Liaison for Tetracore, Inc., a biotechnology company located in Rockville Maryland. Dr. Callahan’s focus is on the design, development, commercialization, and licensure of laboratory diagnostics for infectious diseases of food animals. In 2021, Tetracore obtained two new USDA licenses: (1) Foot and Mouth Disease Virus RNA Test Kit for use in cattle, swine, and sheep samples; and (2) African Swine Fever Virus DNA Test Kit for use in swine samples. Also in 2021, Tetracore has registered two test kits for use in Mexico (1) Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) RNA Test Kit for detection of RNA in swine samples, and (2) Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus (PEDV) /Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus (TGEV) / Porcine Deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) Multiplex RNA Test Kit for detection of RNA in swine samples.

Dr. Callahan is an American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) registered Medical Technologist with a BS in Medical Technology from the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Pathology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. His 35+ year career has been focused on applied research in laboratory diagnostics for the detection and characterization of infectious diseases of both humans and animals. At Tetracore, Dr. Callahan's efforts focus on the design and implementation of field validation studies that generate data to support USDA licensure efforts. Other field studies are initiated as needed to demonstrate the value and efficacy of Tetracore’s laboratory diagnostics portfolio.

At Tetracore, Dr. Callahan serves as the resident virologist performing virus isolation work using classical techniques in BSL-3 laboratory space and is currently involved in the training of a new crew of young virologists to carry on and expand our diagnostic capacity. Tetracore, Inc.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnny-callahan-3b593113/

Kristen K. Coleman, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health and a member of the Public Health Aerobiology, Virology and Exhaled Biomarker Laboratory (PHAB Lab) within the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health. Professor Coleman is a former Research Fellow in the Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme at Duke-NUS Medical School and the Department of Medicine at NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore, where she was engaged in research projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, and the US.

Professor Coleman earned her PhD in Biology (Ecology track) from the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Toledo. Her doctoral research focused on measuring airborne influenza virus in the school environment. Her current research focuses on the environmental detection, epidemiological surveillance and transmission of emerging and zoonotic pathogens, primarily respiratory viruses such as influenza virus, adenovirus and coronavirus. She has authored several key research papers on airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

https://sph.umd.edu/people/kristen-k-coleman

https://sites.google.com/umd.edu/stopcovid/people#h.l80d6hf7rg0

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristenkc

https://twitter.com/drkristenkc

Perenlei Enkhbaatar, MD, PhD, FAHA, is a tenured Professor of Department of Anesthesiology, and the Director of the Translational Intensive Care Unit Service Center, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX. He is also a Charles Robert Allen Professor in Anesthesiology.

Dr. Enkhbaatar received his MD degree at Saint Petersburg Military Medical Academy, Russia. He received his PhD degree at Kumamoto University Medical School, Kumamoto, Japan. Dr. Enkhbaatar completed his Post-Doctoral training at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX. After the Medical School, he practiced medicine in Mongolia.

Dr. Enkhbaatar’s research interest is to investigate pathophysiology of multiorgan dysfunctions during critical illnesses requiring intensive care, such as sepsis, burn trauma, and smoke and toxic gas inhalation. Dr. Enkhbaatar has published more than 170 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters in the related field.

G.Battsetseg is a DVM and Professor at the Institute of veterinary medicine (IVM), Mongolian University of Life Sciences (MULS), Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

Professor G.Battsetseg received her DVM degree, at the Zoo and Veterinary Institute of Alma-Ata (Now Kazakh National Agrarian University (KazNAU)), Kazakhstan. Her PhD degree from the MULS and ScD – from the Academy of Sciences, Mongolia.

She has conducted studies of parasitic and zoonotic diseases for more than 30 years in the country, contributed to a range of research areas under the One Health umbrella. She served as PI/peoject leader for 8 projects involving zoonotic pathogens, disease vectors, animal management, and food safety and also served as a counterpart of 23 national and foreign funded projects.

She has authored more than 140 scientific papers in Mongolian, Russian and English including 11 books. Much of her work has involved vector-borne diseases, animal parasitic zoonotic diseases and equine protozoans that affect horse and camel (Camelus bactrianus) populations in Mongolia.

In 2016 to 2019 she worked as a Co-PI of an NIH-funded research project “One health Innovation Fellowships for Zoonotic Disease Research in Mongolia”. She developed 2 graduate programs in Veterinary parasitology (MSc and PhD).

Shannon Guilllot-Wright, PhD is Vice Chair of Research and Health Policy in the Department of Family Medicine, UTMB. Her program of research focuses on structural violence, with a particular emphasis on the use of research evidence to foster equitable policies. She has conducted photo-ethnographic fieldwork with Filipino migrant seafarers to understand the systemic and structural production of health inequities as well as an ethnography exploring the use of research evidence in the U.S. Congress. Currently, she is conducting fieldwork with (im)migrant fishermen and seafood processors on the Gulf Coast, studying how work is a structural and social determinant of health.

In addition to her research, she serves as Director of Health Policy Research for the Center for Violence Prevention. She provides mentorship and supervision to trainees interested in understanding how macro-level policies impact micro-level health inequities in people and communities. She also works closely with Center faculty to advocate for federal, state, and local policies that decrease health disparities through a combination of photovoice, digital storytelling, and policy briefs.

Dr. Guillot-Wright has published on structural violence, including social determinants of health, health policy, migrant health, and racial/ethnic health inequities in international and national journals and received research support from the CDC, Texas Medical Center's Health Policy Institute, the State of Texas - Office of the Governor, SW Ag Center, and numerous national Foundations. She was a selected artist for the National Academy of Medicine's Visualize Health Equity gallery and her work has been featured in the New York Times, National Public Radio, Houston Public Radio, Texas Monthly, TIME Magazine, and Houston Chronicle. She sits on the American Public Health Association’s Action Board as well as the Advisory Board for the Children’s Defense Fund – Texas. Dr. Guillot-Wright has her PhD in the Medical Humanities from UTMB, MA in Human Rights from Columbia University, and completed her postdoctoral training at the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State.

Faculty page: https://www.utmb.edu/fammed/about-us/biographies/shannon-guillot-wright

Gabriel Hamer, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Entomology. His research and teaching broadly investigates the ecology and control of infectious diseases of humans, wild animals, and domestic animals, with particular attention to those transmitted by arthropod vectors (e.g. mosquitoes, ticks, kissing bugs). He has studied vector-host interactions that lead to parasite amplification and increased disease risk. He also develops and evaluates vector control approaches aimed at reducing human and animal disease. His B.S. and M.S. were obtained at the University of Illinois and PhD at Michigan State University.

Hamer uses multidisciplinary tools to study these complex disease systems, including molecular biology, landscape epidemiology, immunology, and modeling. A goal of his research is to elucidate mechanisms of transmission across space and time that facilitate management of diseases with effective intervention and preventative strategies. In the past 10 years while at TAMU, he has been an investigator of grants totaling over $19M from diverse sponsors. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications, is a Subject Editor for the Journal of Medical Entomology, and past Chair of the American Committee of Medical Entomology.

https://hamerlab.tamu.edu/

Dr. Sarah Hamer is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University where she is affiliated with the Departments of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Veterinary Pathobiology, and the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Interdisciplinary Program. 

Dr. Sarah Hamer received a MS degree from University of Illinois and PhD and DVM degrees from Michigan State University. She is a Diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and has earned board certification in epidemiology. Dr. Hamer is a Certified Wildlife Biologist®.

For the past 10 years, Dr. Hamer has led a research lab focused on the ecology and epidemiology of diseases that emerge at the human-wildlife-domestic animal interface. She trains graduate and veterinary students and teaches epidemiology and vector-borne disease ecology courses. She leads several vector-borne disease research initiatives, including ecological interventions to break transmission cycles leading to Chagas disease in the southern US, citizen science approaches for kissing bug surveillance, and studies of tick and tick-borne pathogen ecology and control. She also directs the Schubot Center for Avian Health, an on-campus avian health research center focused on infectious diseases and conservation.

My research focuses on the ecology, transmission, and virulence of neglected vector-borne bacteria targeting the endothelium, such as Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. My strategy involves a 2-step approach: One Health field studies followed by highly diverse laboratory work (molecular biology, proteomics, arthropod work, animal work, pathogen isolation etc.). We conduct acute undifferentiated fever studies aimed at identifying the burden of vector-borne bacterial pathogens among more common etiologies of fever in the target population and in that specific geographical area. Most of our studies are focused on displaced populations. To identify zoonotic cycles, we also collect relevant arthropod and animal samples. All samples are later tested in biocontainment laboratories, bacterial pathogens isolated and used for animal models and transmission models. Aside from this research on acute undifferentiated fevers, we work extensively on Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in order to understand its transmission dynamics in the United States and in Latin America. Using animal models and tick transmission models, we are trying to explain why the fatality rates are so much higher in Latin America compared to the United States.

Research interests:  Vector-borne bacteria, ticks, displaced population health, MALDI-TOF MS

Phone Number: (409) 266-6911

Email: maularoc@utmb.edu

Institution: University of Texas Medical Branch

Department: Microbiology & Immunology (Primary); Global Health & Emerging Diseases (Secondary)

John A. Lednicky, PhD is a microbiologist and aerovirologist and Research Professor at the University of Florida in Gainesville. His academic appointment is at the Department of Environmental and Global Health and he is affiliated with the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute.

He received his PhD in microbiology at the University of Texas at Austin, his MS degree in microbiology from the University of Missouri in Kansas City, and his BS degree in microbiology from the University of Miami, Florida. He holds M(ASCP) and RM(NRCM) professional certificates.

The current emphasis of Dr.Lednicky’s work center on aerovirology, arbovirology, characterization of hemorrhagic viruses that affect cervids, respiratory virus transmission, and virus discovery. Among his virus discoveries, he prepared molecular clones of many SV40 (Macaque polyomavirus) strains, characterized a new strain of human polyomavirus 9 with a unique enhancer region, discovered human rhinovirus C-51, was the first to isolate Keystone virus from a human, and documented the existence of CHeRI orbiviruses 1 – 3. Dr. Lednicky has studied Chikungunya, Dengue 1 – 4, Madariaga, Mayaro, and Zika viruses and their mosquito vectors.

He works closely with engineers on the improvement of air sampling devices and techniques, and on point-of-care devices for diagnostic virology. His research team was the first to conclusively show that COVID-19 patients produce aerosols that contain infectious SARS-CoV-2. His has received funding for his work from agencies such as CDC, DTRA, NBACC, NIH, NSF, as well as from commercial entities.

https://egh.phhp.ufl.edu/profile/lednicky-john/

Dr. Kristen Peek is a medical sociologist and social epidemiologist with a PhD in Sociology from Duke University. She has research interests in ethnic differences in the effects of social relationships and stress on health outcomes among older adults. She has served as the principal investigator for an NIH funded R01 focusing on marriage and physical and mental health among older Mexican Americans, a core project for a NIH funded P50 Center for Population Health and Health Disparities examining the stress process among Mexican Americans, and two NIH subcontracts focusing on aging and ethnic variations in stress and stress-related biomarkers. Her publication record shows her expertise in the areas of stress, health disparities, mental health, Hispanic aging, and predictors of disability.

She is an active researcher, mentor, and leader serving as Dean, ad interim, for the School of Public and Population Health, and Chair, ad interim, for the Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch. She recently completed her service as Vice Chair for Education in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Population Health, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Program Director for the Population Health Sciences PhD program. She has supervised many pre- and post-doctoral fellows in Population Health Sciences and has extensive administrative experience in course and curriculum evaluation and development, student assessments, educational accreditation, recruitment and admissions.

Luis L. Rodriguez, a veterinarian and PhD in virology, is a Research Leader for the US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) since 1997. Since 2002, he leads the Foreign Animal Disease Research Unit (FADRU) at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center which focuses on foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), African swine fever (ASF), classical swine fever (CSF) and vesicular stomatitis (VS) research.

Dr. Rodriguez has worked extensively on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), an insect-borne zoonotic virus that causes economically important disease in domestic livestock. He also has worked both in field and BSL-4 laboratories with other zoonotic and emerging viruses such as hantaviruses (Sin Nombre), filoviruses (Ebola) and nairoviruses (Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Rodriguez research focuses on pathogenesis, countermeasure development and disease ecology of foreign and emerging diseases. He developed controlled FMDV aerosol exposure methods to characterize of the primary replication sites of FMD virus in cattle. Dr. Rodriguez has also described the use of infrared thermography for pre-clinical detection of FMD-infected cattle. He was part of the leadership team responsible for the development of a novel safe and effective foot-and-mouth disease vaccine platform that allows safe production in the United States. Dr. Rodriguez has authored over 175 peer-reviewed scientific publications, scientific reviews and book chapters.

Dr. Sergio Rodriguez is a Lieutenant in the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps as a CDC Laboratory Leadership Service Fellow within the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology, Pox and Rabies Branch at Atlanta, GA.  He also holds an appointment at the University of Texas Medical Branch in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Dr. Rodriguez has graduate degrees in virology, epidemiology, and environmental microbiology and completed a USDA postdoctoral training program within the Viral Special Pathogens Branch at CDC.  He has spent nearly a decade training and researching on immunodiagnostics, viral engineering, and vaccine/therapeutic countermeasures at the nation’s leading maximum biocontainment laboratories.  He has several years of field experience on bacterial and viral pathogen source tracking from arthropods, animals, and various environments, and has interned twice for the World Health Organization. 

Much of his focus is on building leadership and science advocacy skillsets within his current position—specifically as it pertains to high-consequence zoonotic pathogens research and policy, biocontainment laboratory management and operations, and public health intelligence and response. 

Jessica R. Spengler, DVM, PhD, MPH is a Research Veterinary Medical Officer at the Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.

Dr. Spengler received her MPH in infectious diseases in 2004 from the University of California, Berkeley, and then completed a California Epidemiologic Investigation Service (Cal-EIS) fellowship with the Vector-Borne Disease Section of the California Department of Health from 2004–2005. She received her Ph.D. (2011) and D.V.M. (2012) from the University of California, Davis. Her graduate research on innate immune evasion by hantaviruses was performed on-site with the Special Pathogens Program at the Public Health Agency of Canada (Winnipeg, Manitoba), and at the NIH Laboratory of Virology, Rocky Mountain Laboratories (Hamilton, Montana).

Since 2012, Dr. Spengler has worked with the Viral Special Pathogens Branch at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Currently, she directs a translational research program utilizing biosafety level (BSL)-3 and BSL-4 laboratory facilities to identify, prevent, ameliorate, and control high-hazard zoonotic viral pathogens, including Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, Lassa fever and Rift Valley fever viruses. This program investigates viral pathogenesis, develops animal models of disease, and conducts in vivo screens of therapeutic and vaccine candidates for high-containment, high-consequence viral pathogens.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-spengler-dvm-phd-mph-7a079982/

https://twitter.com/VirusVetty

Gayani Tillekeratne, MD MSc is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Duke University School of Medicine and at the Duke Global Health Institute. She serves as an infectious diseases physician at the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Dr. Tillekeratne received her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina and then completed her Internal Medicine residency training and Infectious Diseases fellowship training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.

Dr Tillekeratne studies the epidemiology of acute respiratory tract infections and her work focuses on improving the diagnosis and management of these infections globally, especially with the goal of improving antimicrobial use. She is co-director of the Ruhuna-Duke Centre for Infectious Diseases in Sri Lanka and works with colleagues in Southeast Asia and East Africa. She is also a co-investigator for several US clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics.

Dr. Tillekeratne is a Fellow in the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Dr. Vlasova received her DVM degree from Moscow State Academy of Veterinary Sciences and Biotechnology, Moscow, Russia, and her PhD degree from Ivanovsky Institute for Virology, Moscow, Russia. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Ohio State University.

Dr. Vlasova has conducted diverse studies on epidemiology, virology and immunology of viral infectious diseases of animals and humans for over 17 years. She has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters.  Her published works have been cited by others more than 4,154 times (H-index 37 by Google Scholar).

Dr. Vlasova’s work has been focused on studying the mechanisms of viral pathogenesis, innate immunity and interspecies (including zoonotic) transmission, particularly for human and animal coronaviruses and rotaviruses. She conducts comprehensive studies evaluating the effects of diet, malnutrition, probiotics and viral enteric disease on the host health and immunity. Dr. Vlasova also conducts research on identification and characterization of emerging and re-emerging viruses. Dr. Vlasova’s research also evaluates the mechanisms of immunological cross-protection among human and animal coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.  Dr. Vlasova promotes the One Health approach in her research emphasizing zoonotic potential of endemic and emerging animal viruses and working on identification of the underlying mechanisms of their emergence, critical needs for their control and existing gaps in our knowledge.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anastasia-vlasova-80a6008/

The major goal of my academic career has been to understand and prevent the emergence of zoonotic viral diseases in humans and domestic animals. My research approaches, which have led to over 390 peer- reviewed publications, include ecological and epidemiological studies of people, vectors and hosts combined with genetic approaches to understand host range and virulence changes that mediate arboviral emergence. Many studies focused on the ecology, epidemiology, and vector transmission of Venezuelan equine encephalitis and other arboviruses in Africa and the Americas. Recently I focused on chikungunya (CHIKV), dengue (DENV) and Zika viruses (ZIKV): evolutionary history, epidemiology, and enzootic ecology in Africa, patterns of spread, mechanisms of emergence into urban transmission cycles, and pathogenesis. Many of these studies were part of a major NIH-funded project (RO1AI069145) that I led for field studies in Senegal with the Institut Pasteur. Key findings included identification of Africa as the enzootic cradle of CHIKV and ZIKV, ecological studies of mosquito vectors and enzootic transmission in Senegal, delineation of the temporal and spatial patterns of emergence into Asia from Africa, and elucidation of a series of vector-adaptive mutations and their epistatic constraints that have been critical to recent CHIKV and ZIKV epidemics. This work permitted us to correctly predict vector usage and the trajectory and patterns of CHIKV spread in the Americas since 2013. My group also recently described the first CHIKV and ZIKV outbreaks in North America, including the first evidence of Aedes aegypti transmission. Another focus has been vaccine and diagnostic development, resulting in a CHIKV vaccine licensed to Takeda Pharmaceuticals and patented in 19 countries, as well as a CHIKV diagnostic method licensed to InBios and sold in many endemic countries. This diagnostic antigen as well as vaccine candidates for CHIKV, eastern and Venezuelan equine encephalitis have been developed using a mosquito-specific alphavirus, Eilat, as a novel vector. I have also been heavily involved in the development of new Zika animal models and vaccines. Since February 2020, I have been among the first U.S. scientists to work with SARS-CoV-2, including studies of viral evolution, pathogenesis, transmission, disinfectants and antivirals along with vaccine development. Many of these activities are leveraged by the World Reference Center for Emerging Viruses and Arboviruses (R24 AI120942), West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (U01AI151801) and the Western Gulf Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (U01-CK00512) that I lead as PD/PI.

Countries where currently working: Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria

Families of pathogens currently studying: Alphaviruses, Flaviviruses, Arenaviruses, Coronaviruses, other zoonotic viruses

Links to associated web pages:

https://www.utmb.edu/ihii/home

Brenda K. Wilson, PhD is a Postdoctoral Scholar and Lecturer in the Global Health Program at the University of California, San Diego [UCSD]. Her research and teaching efforts emphasize structural violence and the social determinants of health and inequalities. Using ethnographic and other qualitative methods, she seeks better understandings of the lived experiences and production of disease and illness, with a particular focus on historically and socially disadvantaged populations such as im/migrants and refugees, racial and gender minorities, working/jobless poor, and people disproportionately impacted by climate change. Her current research ethnographically examines the health trajectories in/and sociopolitical contexts of asylum seekers from departure to arrival, especially those who cross the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition to her U.S.-based research, she has conducted fieldwork in international settings, including photo-ethnographic research with Haitian farmworkers in the Dominican Republic, farmers and laborers in south India, low-income communities in rural Honduras, and indigenous people in northern Canada.

Dr. Wilson’s career path in global health firmly articulates with the One Health paradigm. Following five years of experience in infectious disease research studying HIV pathogenesis, she pursued a master’s degree in environmental studies to understand how ecological changes combine with political and societal forces to influence health outcomes and disparity. At present, she applies her doctorate in the medical/health humanities to enhancing One Health research and education by integrating humanistic and anthropological insights into the effects of political-economy and social determinants on disease emergence, transmission, disparities, and policy responses. She has contributed to UTMB’s One Health program from its inception, as both a lecturer and co-designer of the award-winning Field Experience in One Health and Outbreak Investigation course. In addition, she sits on the American Public Health Association’s Center for Climate Change, Health, and Equity Advisory Board. Dr. Wilson has a PhD in the Medical/Health Humanities from UTMB, MA in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies from the University of Manitoba, and BSc in Human Biology from Texas State University.

• Faculty page: https://globalhealthprogram.ucsd.edu/about/faculty.html#Global-Health-Program
• Research Team: https://cgmh.ucsd.edu/research/research-project/north%20america/three-column.html
• Publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Brenda-Wilson-6
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenda-k-wilson

Junfeng (Jim) Zhang is Professor of Global and Environmental Health at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke Global Health Institute, and Duke Kunshan University. Prof. Zhang integrates clinical research, exposure science, toxicology, and epidemiology to examine health effects and underlying biological mechanisms of air pollution exposure (and other environmental contaminants and stressors). His recent work includes intervention trials to evaluate the effectiveness of using indoor air cleaning devices in improving cardiopulmonary health outcomes in adults and asthma outcomes in children. He directs the Exposure Biology and Chemistry Laboratory where his team develops novel biomarkers of pollutant exposure and biomarkers of pathophysiologic changes induced by pollutant exposure. These biomarkers have been used in a large number of field and lab-based studies to examine the health effects of ozone, particulate matter, diesel traffic, and the air pollution mixture. Dr. Zhang published more than 290 peer-reviewed articles in medical journals, environmental health journals, and environmental science journals. Dr. Zhang was recognized as a significant contributor to the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In 2012, Dr. Zhang received the Jerome Wesolowski Award, the highest honor of the International Society of Exposure Science. In 2013, Dr. Zhang was named an AAAS Fellow.

Dr. Abdullah Algaissi is a virologist and assistant professor at the Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia. He is the head of the Emerging and Epidemic Infectious Disease Research Unit  (EEIDRU) at the Medical Research Center at Jazan university.  

Dr. Algaissi received his bachelor degree in Medical Laboratory Sciences from the King Khalid University in Saudi Arabia, and an MS degree in Microbiology and Immunology from New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY before earning an MPH in epidemiology of infectious diseases and a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology (Virology) from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX.

Dr. Algaissi is currently running  a research group in Saudi Arabia that focuses on the epidemiology of emerging and re-emerging viruses in Saudi Arabia and other countries of  Arabian Peninsula as well the discovery and characterization of new viruses in reservoir animal hosts. His research group is also working on developing board antivirals and vaccines against emerging viruses particularly coronaviruses. He’s pioneer in establishing the One Health concept in Saudi Arabia and training the next generation of scientists and professionals in this area. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdullah-algaissi-49a82475/

Bui Nghia Vuong, DVM, PhD is a researcher in Virology Department in National institute of Veterinary Research (NIVR). As a veterinary virologist, the subjects of his research are the economically important viruses in Vietnam such as infectious bursal disease virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, classical swine fever virus, and avian influenza virus. He has been especially interested in the research on prevention and control of the diseases caused by these viruses i.e. diagnostic methods, epidemiology, vaccine production, and its application.

Dr. Bui received his DVM degree, at Vietnam National University of Agriculture and his PhD in Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Japan with major of Animal and Food Hygiene. He has completed successfully the course with an excellent grade. During the PhD course, his study was focused on the surveillance of avian influenza virus and avian paramyxovirus in wild bird flying in Japan and the characterization of the isolates. In addition, He had been involved in some other projects in which he searched for highly functional antiviral materials and development of diagnostic tools for detection of influenza viruses. Based on the extensive past experience on avian influenza viruses, he was offered to continue the research in Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, as a post-doctoral researcher. In the university, he was expected to utilize his experiences to significantly advance the ongoing research projects on surveillance of influenza viruses in wild birds, development of highly sensitive and specific diagnosis test for influenza virus.

During the past 10 years that Dr. Bui has been working various researches related to viral and viral diseases and he has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Last 6 years, as a research group leader at Virology in NIVR, he has been in charge of several projects including international and domestic projects in NIVR, which he found very challenging and enjoyable. he has the opportunity to get a deep inside on the important disease and Zoonotic disease and the important role that the Veterinary profession plays.

Sirri Kar, DVM, PhD, is an ecologist of vectors and vector-borne zoonotic diseases. He is a Professor at Tekirdag Namik Kemal University, Biology Department, Tekirdag (40°59'N, 27°35'E), Turkey.

He received his DVM degree in 2002 from the Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Turkey. His doctoral research was carried out at the Parasitology Institute of the Leipzig University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Germany, and the Parasitology Department of Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Kar was a visiting professor in 2012 and 2019 at the Galveston National Lab where he completed multiple training courses ad conducted arthropod work in biocontainment.

Training courses, practices, and studies required for different levels of laboratory biosafety have been completed

The main area of DR. Kar’s expertise is the ecology of ticks, mosquitoes, and associated vectorial diseases. The studies are primarily focused on intra and interspecific interference of the vectors, host-vector interaction, and phenology of the ecological dynamics of ticks and mosquitoes under field conditions.

He has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 20 book chapters, and his works have been cited by others more than 860 times (H-index 18 by Google Scholar).

Families of vectors and pathogens currently studying: tick-borne and mosquito-borne diseases

Faculty page: http://skar.cv.nku.edu.tr/

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.tr/citations?user=6Tb9AXUAAAAJ&hl=tr

Aysen Gargili Keles is a parasitologist and  Professor at the Marmara University, Health Sciences Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey. He is affiliated with Basic Health Sciences Department and Biosafety & Biosecurity Graduate Program.

Professor Gargili Keles received her veterinary medicine degree, at the Istanbul University, Veterinary Faculty and her PhD degree from Istanbul University Institute of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey.

She worked as research assistant and associate professor at the Veterinary Faculty and as a professor at Cerrahpaşa School of Medicine. In her academic life, she conducted diverse studies of parasitology and vector-borne diseases at Gifu University Faculty of Medicine in Japan, ICGEB in India, Ludwig Maximillien Universitat-Tropical Diseases Institute in Germany and University of Texas Medical Branch-Galveston National Laboratory in the USA as postdoc scholar and visiting scientist. She conducted national and international research projects supported by The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey and EU 7th Framework Programme, CRDF and HSP. Gargılı Keleş authored many papers, book chapters and papers presented at international/national congresses (H-index 24 by Google Scholar).

She also serves on the national and international advisory boards especially on vector-borne diseases and their epidemiology, which is her primary field of study. She is a member of the Lyme Disease Advisory Group of the Ministry of Health of Turkey. She served in the international CCHF epidemic monitoring group of the World Health Organization and one of the authors and editors of the report "The effects of climate change on health in Turkey" prepared by WHO. She is a member of TUBITAK Advisory Board. She has duties in the editorial and referee boards of eminent journals and she is a member of the Turkish Microbiology Society, EBSA, and a Board member of the Turkish Parasitology Society.  Currently she continues her duty as the Head of the Basic Health Sciences Department and Vice Dean at the Faculty of Health Sciences, and she is the founder and director of Biosafety and Biosecurity Graduate Program of Marmara University.

Pathogens currently studying: CCHFV, TBEV, Lyme agents, Rickettsiae and other vector-borne pathogens.

Faculty page: https://avesis.marmara.edu.tr/aysen.gargili

Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aysen-gargili-8aa75341/

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=c9Of0UsAAAAJ

Pedro A. Martínez, MD, PhD is a medical virologist and principal researcher at the Instituto Nacional em Investigação em Saúde, Luanda, Angola.

Previously, he was leading the Molecular Surveillance of Arboviral infections at the National Reference Laboratory of Arboviruses at Pedro Kourí Tropical Medicine Institute (IPK), in Havana, Cuba (WHO collaborating center for Dengue and its vector). Previous experience working with Herpesviruses, HIV and Polyomaviruses in immunocompromised individuals.

Professor Pedro received his medical degree, at the University of Medicine in Havana, Cuba in 1997. Became a Master in Virology in 2004 and in 2009 he graduated in Medical Microbiology as a speciality (Virology). In 2013 completed his PhD in medical science and became an associate Professor and Principal researcher from 2017 onwards. Dr. Martinez has conducted diverse epidemiological studies of infectious diseases in the last 19 years among them 7 international projects (2 sponsored by EU; 1 International association of National Public Health Institutes (IANPHI), 1 by TWAS; 1 by NGO Medicuba-Suiza, 1 by Rega Institute KU Leuven, Belgium and 1 by the University Hospital of Liege, Belgium). He has authored and co-authored 29 peer-reviewed manuscripts and has eighteen years of experience in teaching activities.  

Country where currently living & working: Angola

Families of pathogens currently studying: Flaviviridae, Togaviridae (Alfavirus), Bunyaviridae, Coronaviridae; Orthomixoviridae

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9886-6448

Teck-Hock Toh is a Pediatrician and the Head of the Clinical Research Center at Sibu Hospital and a Professor at the SEGi University Sibu Clinical Campus. He is also an Adjunct Professor for the School of Science and Technology at Sunway University, the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Regional Clinical Advisor in Health Promotion®, and the Vice President for the National Early Childhood Intervention Council.

Professor Toh received his medical degree at the University of Melbourne and completed his pediatric training in the United Kingdom and Singapore. Besides general pediatrics, he also works in developmental-behavioral pediatrics, community child health and conduct researches in one-health infectious diseases and vaccine trials. Dr Toh has research experience for over 20 years and has collaborated with international institutions like Duke University, Universiti Malaya and Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, and those in Serbia, Singapore, and the Netherlands. He has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. Others have cited his published works more than 300 times (H-index 11 by Google Scholar).

Dr Toh has been invited to speak at various scientific meetings/conferences and conducted training on pediatrics, child health and research topics throughout Malaysia and internationally (ASEAN countries, Bangladesh, Australia, India, Hong Kong, and the United States). Besides scientific papers, he has also published parent-teacher handbooks on ADHD, language development, breastfeeding, and children reading / coloring books and books on Chinese literary prose and short stories. He received The Outstanding Young Malaysian Award in 2010 and Special Education Network in Asia Advocacy Award in 2018.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/teck-hock-toh-456923144/

Sajid Umar is a postdoctoral fellow/laboratory manager at One Health Research Laboratory, Duke Kunshan University (DKU),China. He received both his Bachelor’s degree (Veterinary Medicine, 2009) and his Master’s degree (Pathology, 2011) from University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan. He received his PhD degree (Virology, 2017) from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse, France. He recently worked as a post-doctoral fellow studying animal respiratory viruses at the Department of Virology, Istanbul University, Turkey from 2018 to 2019. He has considerable experience in virological and molecular techniques and looks forward to working with DKU faculty, staff, and students. His current research interests continue to reside in the area of viral emerging infectious diseases, particularly zoonotic diseases that occur at the human and animal interface. He is specifically working on the epidemiology, virology, and molecular characterization of viruses that transmit among humans and animals, including influenza A/B/C/D viruses, coronavirus, enterovirus, and adenovirus. He is also overseeing projects focused on the laboratory animal research, the isolation of antimicrobial resistant genes in environmental samples, the isolation of influenza A viruses from pig samples, and developing new assays to detect antibodies against swine viruses in people. In addition, he is actively involved as a board member of DKU Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and Laboratory Animal Research.

Marc-Antoine de La Vega, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas, specifically working at the Galveston National Laboratory under Dr. Gary Kobinger. He is affiliated with the department of Microbiology and Immunology.

Dr. de La Vega was trained in Canada, where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from the Université de Sherbrooke. His training continued at the University of Manitoba through the initiation of a MSc and a PhD, specifically at the National Microbiology Laboratory. His PhD was later completed at the Université Laval in Québec, Canada following a change of institution by his thesis supervisor, Dr. Kobinger.

Most of his work has focused on the parameters influencing transmission of high-consequence pathogens such as Ebola virus, but has contributed to multiple projects regarding vaccine development. Due to his training in high containment facilities, Marc-Antoine has also worked on numerous occasions with multiple not-for-profit organizations such as Global Urgent and Advanced Research and Development, Doctors Without Borders, and the World Health Organization to assist countries (Canada, Guinea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi) by providing diagnostic training and capabilities in the context of outbreak responses to Ebola virus and SARS-CoV-2.

Related links

https://publicationslist.org/marcantoine.delavega

https://www.utmb.edu/one-health

Lyudmyla Marushchak, PhD is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Marushchak received her PhD in veterinary science at the State Scientific Control Institute of Biotechnology and Strains of Microorganisms, Kyiv, Ukraine in 2016.

From 2007 to 2020 she worked in the State Scientific and Research Institute of Laboratory Diagnostics and Veterinary and Sanitary Expertise, Kyiv, Ukraine.

Over the last 5 years she has been working as a national (Ukrainian) expert for international organizations (Black & Veatch Special Projects Corp., Kyiv, Food Agriculture Organization, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) in training on biosafety and biosecurity, and laboratory methods of viral diseases.

She has a varied background focused on diagnostics of animal viral diseases including African Swine Fever, Classical Swine Fever, Avian influenza, Newcastle disease, Q-fever, LSD, and Bluetongue.

She is interested in zoonotic diseases and understanding viral evolution thru the use of bioinformatics and phylogenetic tools.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyudmyla-marushchak-07447a126/

Email: lymarush@utmb.edu

Judith Oguzie, DVM, MSc, PhD will be a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas (arriving in Feb 2024). She is a veterinarian and molecular biologist who earned her DVM at the University of Maiduguri, and her MSc and PhD at Redeemer's University. 

Dr. Oguzie has addressed major public health challenges by applying cutting-edge molecular techniques. During various public health crises, she investigated and identified pathogens responsible for outbreaks, including Lassa, yellow, and Mpox viruses, in the outbreak scenarios.

Dr Oguzie notably showcased an extensive repertoire of handling other pathogens such as HIV, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, dengue fever, and hepatitis B, Rabbit Hemorrhagic fever virus with an unwavering commitment to advancing scientific knowledge.

In addition to her diagnostic and sequencing endeavors, she actively participated in the planning and using molecular techniques for identifying and characterizing pathogens causing uncharacterized febrile illnesses (UFIs).

Recognizing the interconnected nature of infectious diseases, she extended her research to vector genomics, focusing on mosquitoes and ticks as potential carriers of pathogens with public health significance. This holistic approach reflects her belief that a comprehensive understanding of infectious diseases is crucial for effective prevention and control.

Dr Oguzie has played a pivotal role in disseminating crucial data to relevant public health institutions. Her contributions have informed timely and appropriate responses to outbreaks, ultimately saving lives and contributing significantly to the global fight against infectious diseases.

Jessica Rodriguez is a PhD candidate in Epidemiology with a focus on Genomics and Bioinformatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health. She holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Epidemiology with a minor in Biostatistics from the same institution, and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and English Literature from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

Over a seven-year period, Jessica has accumulated considerable in conducting public health research. Her work has involved wastewater surveillance for microbes, and laboratory adaptation of various molecular diagnostic assays including those for SARS-CoV-2. She also has experience conducting molecular sequencing, running ELISA assays, performing chemical/molecular analysis, and in profiling pathogen biomarkers. She is passionate about addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes for underserved, minority populations.

Ismaila Shittu, MSc, PhD will be a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas (arriving in Feb 2024). His MSc and PhD degrees were earned in virology at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.  Formerly, since 2005, he worked in various scientific roles at the National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom, Nigeria. 

As a virologist, his research interests include epidemiology, evolution and ecology of zoonotic emerging and re-emerging diseases at the human-animal interface. Dr. Shittu has conducted surveillance, diagnosis and research on viral respiratory diseases including Newcastle disease, avian infectious bronchitis, SARS-CoV-2, avian influenza, and Mpox.

He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles involving different animal species including horses, camels, bovine and wildlife.

He has trained and mentored junior staff, including interns and students from different Nigerian universities in virology and virological techniques.

He is considered an expert in detecting and characterizing influenza viruses found in animals.

I studied Bacteriology and Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the Universidad Industrial de Santander (Bucaramanga, Colombia), did a MS in Basic Sciences at the Universidad de Antioquia (UdeA Medellín, Colombia) and a PhD in Biology at the University and coordinated the Primary Immunodeficiencies (PID) diagnosis laboratory for 18 years. During this time, I also did postdoctoral fellows at University College London (UCL, London, UK) and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM, Houston, TX). I left UdeA in 2022 as a Full Professor.

At the beginning of my scientific career, I participated in projects to discover the immunological factors that determine the susceptibility to Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Then, I did my PhD testing potential microbial-derived adjuvants to prevent allergic asthma. As a professor at UdeA, I led research to discover and characterize new genetic immune disorders. Intrigued by the environmental factors that influence the function of the immune system, I joined a team at Baylor College of Medicine to study how factors such as the microbiome and ageing can contribute to the development of Dry Eye Disease and Sjögren Syndrome. All this work has led to the publication of more that 50 peer-reviewed articles.

Since 2018 I have been hosting El Panal - la ciencia de nuestras defensas, a Spanish radio program at the Public University Radio Network in Medellín-Colombia that is aimed to exchange useful knowledge in Immunology with the non-scientific community. Our audience expands to more than 25.000 listeners from all over the country, even in places that still lack internet connectivity.

I am also a passionate yoga practitioner, gardener and naturalist. Together with my husband, we created the Sustainable Stories Film Fest (SSFF) at University of Houston Clear Lake UHCL. I also enjoy a lot applying active learning strategies to teach at the Undergraduate and Graduate level. 

The integrative, multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural approaches are characteristics that captivated me from the One Health Initiative and I am very proud of belonging the team from Prof. Gregory Gray as a Research Project Coordinator from a Vaccine Clinical Trial.

Most recent publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10457069/pdf/aging-15-204651.pdf
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1212138/full

Related links:
Nuestrasdefensas.org
Sustainable-stories.org
Instagram, Facebook: nuestrasdefensas, Sustainable Stories.

Program Manager for UTMB West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases

Austin Weynand, MHS is a 1st year medical student at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor of Arts studying chemistry and economics, and received his Master of Health Science in Epidemiology on the Infectious Disease Track from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2021.

Austin’s research interests include emerging and endemic infectious diseases, particularly respiratory and tropical infections. His epidemiology research experience includes evaluating non-pharmaceutical interventions on pediatric deaths from malaria in northern Zambia with the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute (JHMRI) and ICEMR. He also worked with the Johns Hopkins Center of Excellence in Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS) as a data analyst to study the burden of influenza-like illnesses in southern Zambia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Austin is an avid hiker, camper, runner and writer. He lives with his wife in League City, Texas. Long-term, he would like to work as a physician-scientist in Texas while maintaining research connections abroad.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austin-weynand-mhs-682434108/