Research

Connecting ecoimmunology and disease ecology.

My research takes an integrative approach to study host physiology, with particular interest in immune defense, by combining field and lab techniques that seek to understand how small physiological processes and mechanisms relate to natural occurring phenomena like disease transmission and evolution. My research can be split in a couple different areas of interest:

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The Ecology of Expulsion

How do we link natural variation of immune phenotypes with disease susceptibility? Connecting ecological drivers of immune modulation with the risk of disease in wild animals remains as one of the biggest challenges in ecoimmunology and disease ecology. However, by studying specific mechanisms in a host-parasite model, we can better find the link between standing immune phenotypes at the time of infection with host susceptibility to and the intensity of diseases. This project focuses on the positive and negative feedback mechanisms of T-helper cells in rewilded house mice (Mus musculus) infected with an intestinal whipworm (Trichuris muris). I study how T-helper bias is affected by genetics and the environment, and how these relationships affect the ability of mice to expel the intestinal parasite.

Ecological determinants of immune defense

What drives variation of immune phenotypes in nature? I study how immune defenses is mediated by trade-offs with physiology and life history. I use a combination of observational studies and field experiments to evaluate how trade-offs shape immune phenotypes in free-living tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor). I am interested in how immune phenotypes trade-off with reproduction, behavior, the stress response, and thermoregulation; all of which are closely related to a bird’s ability to respond and adapt to a changing climate. Moreover, I am especially interested in understanding within-population variation in condition affects trade-offs and shapes immune phenotypes at the population level. This project integrates information gathered through well-established immunological assays (like bacteria killing assays), with novel and standard techniques to analyze behavioral and physiological traits (e.g., RFID systems, passive hormone manipulations, hormone ELISAs, or flow-through respirometry). Examples in this paper and this other paper.