A5017495617- Viral Infections and Outbreaks Research
- Viral Infections and Vectors
- Plant and animal studies
- Zoonotic diseases and public health
- SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research
- Digital Imaging for Blood Diseases
- Hepatitis B Virus Studies
- Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
- Genetic diversity and population structure
- CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
- Viral Infectious Diseases and Gene Expression in Insects
- Plant Parasitism and Resistance
- Plant Reproductive Biology
- Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- vaccines and immunoinformatics approaches
- Gene Regulatory Network Analysis
- Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Virology and Viral Diseases
- Species Distribution and Climate Change
- Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies Research
University of Idaho
2019-2023
EcoHealth Alliance
2023
Washington State University
2017-2020
Forecasting the risk of pathogen spillover from reservoir populations wild or domestic animals is essential for effective deployment interventions such as wildlife vaccination culling. Due to sporadic nature events and limited availability data, developing validating robust, spatially explicit, predictions challenging. Recent efforts have begun make progress in this direction by capitalizing on machine learning methodologies. An important weakness existing approaches, however, that they...
Colonization at expanding range edges often involves few founders, reducing effective population size. This process can promote the evolution of self-fertilization, but implicating historical processes as drivers trait is difficult and requires an explicit model biogeographic history. In plants, contemporary limits to outcrossing are invoked evolutionary expansions may shape mating system diversity, with leading-edge populations evolving elevated selfing ability. a widespread plant,...
In flowering plants, shifts from outcrossing to partial or complete self-fertilization have occurred independently thousands of times, yet the underlying adaptive processes are difficult discern. Selfing's ability provide reproductive assurance when pollination is uncertain an oft-cited ecological explanation for its evolution, but this benefit may be outweighed by costs diminishing selective advantage over outcrossing. We directly studied fitness effects a self-compatibility mutation that...
Lassa virus is a significant burden on human health throughout its endemic region in West Africa, with most infections the result of spillover from primary rodent reservoir virus, natal multimammate mouse, M. natalensis. Here we develop Bayesian methodology for estimating epidemiological parameters within and generating probabilistic predictions efficacy vaccination programs. Our approach uses Approximate Computation (ABC) to integrate mechanistic mathematical models, remotely-sensed...
It is often expected that temperate plants have expanded their geographical ranges northward from primarily southern refugia. Evidence for this hypothesis mixed in eastern North American species, and there increasing support colonization middle latitudes. We studied genome-wide patterns of variation RADseq loci to test hypotheses concerning range expansion a forest herb (Campanula americana). First, spatial genetic differentiation were determined. Then phylogenetic relationships divergence...
Inbreeding depression is dependent on the ploidy of populations and can inhibit evolution selfing. While polyploids should generally harbor less inbreeding than diploids at equilibrium, it has been unclear whether this pattern holds in non-equilibrium conditions following bottlenecks. We use stochastic individual-based simulations to determine effects population bottlenecks autotetraploids, addition cases where neo-autotetraploids form from union unreduced gametes. With a ploidy-independent...
Abstract Diverse applications rely on engineering microbes to carry and express foreign transgenes. This engineered baggage rarely benefits the microbe is thus prone rapid evolutionary loss when propagated. For where a transgene must be maintained for extended periods of growth, slowing rate evolution critical can achieved by reducing either mutation or strength selection. Because realized changing these quantities will not usually equal, it important know which yield greatest improvement...
Abstract Zoonotic diseases threaten human health worldwide and are often associated with anthropogenic disturbance. Predicting how disturbance influences spillover risk is critical for effective disease intervention but difficult to achieve at fine spatial scales. Here, we develop a method that learns the distribution of reservoir species from aerial imagery. Our approach uses neural networks extract features known or hypothesized importance images. The these then summarized linked spatially...
Abstract The danger posed by emerging infectious diseases necessitates the development of new tools that can mitigate risk animal pathogens spilling over into human population. One promising approach is recombinant viral vaccines are transmissible, and thus capable self-dissemination through hard to reach populations wild animals. Indeed, mathematical models demonstrate transmissible greatly reduce effort required control spread zoonotic in their reservoirs, thereby limiting chances...
Genetically engineered organisms are prone to evolve in response the engineering. This evolution is often undesirable and can negatively affect purpose of Methods that maintain stability genomes therefore critical successful design use genetically organisms. One potential method limit unwanted by taking advantage ability gene flow counter local adaption, a process supplementation. Here, we investigate feasibility supplementation as mechanism offset evolutionary degradation transgene three...
Abstract Lassa virus is a significant burden on human health throughout its endemic region in West Africa, with most infections the result of spillover from primary rodent reservoir virus, natal multimammate mouse, M. natalensis . Here we develop Bayesian methodology for estimating epidemiological parameters within and generating probabilistic predictions efficacy vaccination programs. Our approach uses Approximate Computation (ABC) to integrate mechanistic mathematical models,...
Abstract Forecasting the risk of pathogen spillover from reservoir populations wild or domestic animals is essential for effective deployment interventions such as wildlife vaccination culling. Due to sporadic nature events and limited availability data, developing validating robust, spatially explicit, predictions challenging. Recent efforts have begun make progress in this direction by capitalizing on machine learning methodologies. An important weakness existing approaches, however, that...