UF Geography was well represented at this year’s Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI) Research Day. Simrik Bhandari, a first year Masters student working in the Quantitative Disease Ecology and Conservation (QDEC) lab, presented a poster on the spatial patterns of dengue incidence in Nepal. Gavriella Hecht, a second-year PhD student in the Quantitative Disease Ecology […]
There was strong GeoGator representation at the 2023 EPI Day hosted by UF’s Emerging Pathogens Institute – with the SEER Lab and QDEC Lab submitting undergrad, graduate, and faculty posters. Undergrad Researchers Aryn O’Dell (SEER Lab) – Evaluating livestock commingling in a brucellosis risk zone in Kazakhstan Jaclyn Siu (SEER Lab) – Spatial Investigation of […]
QDEC Lab’s Dr. Shreejana Bhattarai and Dr. Cat Lippi were both featured in the latest EPI Exchange Newsletter (17 February 2023) – Shree for successfully defending her dissertation and Cat for her recent publication in the Journal of Medical Entomology and associated VectorByte database.
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B RYAN – The Future of Zoonotic Risk Prediction Colin J. Carlson, Maxwell J. Farrell, Zoe Grange, Barbara A. Han, Nardus Mollentze, Alexandra L. Phelan, Angela L. Rasmussen, Gregory F. Albery, Bernard Bett, David M. Brett-Major, Lily E. Cohen, Tad Dallas, Evan A. Eskew, Anna C. Fagre, Kristian M. Forbes, Rory Gibb, Sam Halabi, Charlotte C. Hammer, Rebecca Katz, Jason Kindrachuk, Renata L. Muylaert, Felicia B. Nutter, Joseph Ogola, Kevin J. Olival, Michelle […]
Morgan Walker Pronouns: she/her or they/them Spatial Epidemiologist and GIS Lab Manager Spatial Epidemiology & Ecology Research Laboratory (SEER Lab) University of Florida Adviser: Dr. Jason Blackburn Focus Area: Geospatial Analysis and Techniques Medical Geography in Global Health Research Statement: I am broadly interested in disease ecology and spatial epidemiology. My research focuses on transmission […]
The latest publication led by SEER Lab #MedGeo M.S. Alum, and full-time Spatial Epidemiologist Morgan Walker is available in Royal Society Open Science. In this study, Walker and others examined how ungulates, primarily plains bison and elk, use animal carcasses on the Montana landscape. Working with SEER Lab partners at Turner Enteprises, Inc. (TEI) out […]
We need a national tick strategy, UF Medical Geography researcher Dr. Claudia Ganser argued in a recent paper. “Historically in the U.S., public health has focused more on mosquitoes versus ticks,” Ganser says. “A lot of the public health infrastructure of surveillance programs that is already in place focuses on mosquitoes rather than ticks,” Ganser says. […]
GAINESVILLE, FL – SEER Lab Medical Geographer Dr. Michael Norris has launched a new BSL3 lab specifically to study COVID-19 at the Emerging Pathogens Institute. When the pandemic initially broke out, Dr. Norris initially offered his time to help with the testing effort, but quickly realized that his skills could be better utilized elsewhere. He […]
GAINESVILLE, FL – University of Florida Associate Professor of Medical Geography Dr. Sadie Ryan (Emerging Pathogens Institute, Quantitative Disease Ecology & Conservation Lab) spoke with WUFT News about vector-borne disease in the time of coronavirus in Flying Under the Radar. “It’s not like mosquitoes went on hold because of COVID,” she said. “The message needs to stay alive.” […]
Dr. Jason Blackburn, Associate Professor of Medical Geography, in the Department of Geography and the Emerging Pathogens Institute, and Director of the SEER Lab, was recently quoted in The Next Pandemic Could Be Hiding in the Arctic Permafrost, in The New Republic. Rather, climate change is […]
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GAINESVILLE – In the battle against vector borne disease, mosquito control using insecticides is an essential tool. But what happens when that tool starts to fail, and how do you know it? Insecticides are regularly used by public health agencies to reduce populations of blood-sucking mosquitoes. Effective control programs are important to public health because, […]
Read more "Insecticide Resistance Threatens the Control of Mosquito-Borne Disease in Ecuador"
GAINESVILLE – Blood sucking insects such as the Yellow fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti, are more than just a nuisance in Ecuador, they also spread diseases such as dengue fever, chikungunya and Zika. A warming world means that public health officials must decide where to direct surveillance and mosquito control efforts not only today, but also […]
Read more "New maps show where mosquitoes will invade Ecuador’s Andes mountains"
GAINESVILLE, FL – A University of Florida Medical Geography researcher recently participated in a study that found that current estimates of Zika virus transmission vastly over predict its possible range. Temperature is a major driver of vector-borne disease transmission, but current transmission models rely on untested assumptions about life history of Zika infected Aedes aegypti […]
GAINESVILLE, FL – Medical Geography researchers from the University of Florida recently participated in a study that successfully predicted dengue fever outbreaks on the Caribbean island of Barbados, using climate data. This paper is part of a special issue of PLOS MEDICINE, focusing on the impacts of climate change on health, and is a result […]
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UF Geography PhD student Stephanie Mundis (QDEC Lab, Emerging Pathogens Institute) recently visited the second graders at Oak Hall School, where she gave a presentation on her past work in Kenya. The second graders of Oak Hall have been studying Kenya this semester in preparation for their singing performance at Oak Hall’s International Day. When Stephanie […]
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GAINESVILLE – With a $10 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the University of Florida will lead a highly collaborative research program focused on stopping vector-borne diseases such as Zika before they spread farther into the United States. Key leadership for the Southeast Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Disease will […]
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This summer, Geography’s Ryan Lab and the Emerging Pathogens Institute were proud to host Lauren Fregosi as a summer research intern working on Dr. Sadie Ryan‘s National Science Foundation’s Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (NSF EEID) grant. The internship, which was offered through the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, was focused on modelling approaches […]