# positions[].organizations[].parent[].label
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

# overview
My lab focuses on the molecular host-pathogen and vector-pathogen interactions. Vector-borne pathogens have evolved in close relationship with their vectors and hosts for thousands of years. Thus, they have acquired mechanisms to manipulate the cellular machinery of both, the vector and the mammalian host. I am interested in how vector-borne pathogens influence host and vector cellular responses, such as immune responses, cellular trafficking, and vesicle secretion.

We are also interested in how tick-borne pathogens sense environmental changes when moving between the vector and the mammalian host. Members of the Anaplasmataceae change their protein profile during their development within the mammalian host when compared to the vector. We want to use these bacteria as a model to understand what clues intracellular bacteria use to detect changes in environment. This knowledge could lead to development of interventions to disrupt the life cycle of tick-borne pathogens, and prevent disease in humans and animals.

# keywords[]
30 Agricultural, Veterinary And Food Sciences

# keywords[]
3 Prevention Of Disease And Conditions, And Promotion Of Well-being

# keywords[]
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

# keywords[]
2.2 Factors Relating To The Physical Environment

# keywords[]
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
University of Minnesota - (Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Zamorano Pan-American Agricultural School - (Tegucigalpa, Honduras)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
University of Minnesota - (Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States)

# awardsAndHonors[].label
Scialog: Mitigating Zoonotic Threats Fellows

# awardsAndHonors[].label
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean's Outstanding Achievement Award

# publications[].label
THE WAY FORWARD: IMPROVING GENETIC SYSTEMS

# publications[].label
Whole genome transcription profiling of Anaplasma phagocytophilum in human and tick host cells by tiling array analysis.

# publications[].label
Tick Humoral Responses: Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer.

# publications[].label
Wolbachia Impacts Anaplasma Infection in Ixodes scapularis Tick Cells.

# publications[].label
Engineering of obligate intracellular bacteria: progress, challenges and paradigms.

# publications[].label
An O-Methyltransferase Is Required for Infection of Tick Cells by Anaplasma phagocytophilum.

# publications[].label
Anaplasma phagocytophilum Transmission Activates Immune Pathways While Repressing Wound Healing in the Skin.

# publications[].label
Extracellular Vesicles and Immunomodulation in Mosquitoes and Ticks

# publications[].label
The Borrelia burgdorferi Adenylate Cyclase, CyaB, Is Important for Virulence Factor Production and Mammalian Infection.

# publications[].label
Tick extracellular vesicles in host skin immunity and pathogen transmission.

# publications[].label
Infection-derived lipids elicit an immune deficiency circuit in arthropods.

# publications[].label
Expression patterns of Anaplasma marginale Msp2 variants change in response to growth in cattle, and tick cells versus mammalian cells.

# publications[].label
The Borrelia burgdorferi adenylyl cyclase, CyaB, is important for virulence factor production and mammalian infection

# publications[].label
Tick extracellular vesicles enable arthropod feeding and promote distinct outcomes of bacterial infection.

# publications[].label
Evaluation of the in vitro acaricidal effect of five organic compounds on the cattle fever tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: Ixodidae).

# publications[].label
Rickettsial ompB promoter regulated expression of GFPuv in transformed Rickettsia montanensis.

# publications[].label
Infection of Ixodes scapularis ticks with Rickettsia monacensis expressing green fluorescent protein: a model system.

# publications[].label
p47 licenses activation of the immune deficiency pathway in the tick Ixodes scapularis.

# publications[].publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

# publications[].label
Message in a vesicle - trans-kingdom intercommunication at the vector-host interface.

# publications[].label
Isolation of microRNAs from Tick Ex Vivo Salivary Gland Cultures and Extracellular Vesicles.

# publications[].label
Plant-Derived Natural Compounds for Tick Pest Control in Livestock and Wildlife: Pragmatism or Utopia?

# publications[].label
Ticks: More Than Just a Pathogen Delivery Service.

# publications[].label
Mutational analysis of gene function in the Anaplasmataceae: Challenges and perspectives.

# publications[].label
Possible biased virulence attenuation in the Senegal strain of Ehrlichia ruminantium by ntrX gene conversion from an inverted segmental duplication.

# publications[].label
Changing the Recipe: Pathogen Directed Changes in Tick Saliva Components.

# publications[].label
An Ixodes scapularis cell line with a predominantly neuron-like phenotype.

# publications[].label
Isolation of microRNAs from Tick Ex Vivo Salivary Gland Cultures and Extracellular Vesicles

# researcherOn[].label
Biology, Ecology & Management of Emerging Disease Vectors

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
National Institute of Food and Agriculture - (Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States)

# researcherOn[].label
Interstadial and Temporal Changes In Rhipicephalus Microplus Salivary Glands

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
United States Department of Agriculture - (Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States)

# researcherOn[].label
Development Of Extracellular Vesicles As Vaccine Candidates Against Ticks

# researcherOn[].awardedBy.label
United States Department of Agriculture - (Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States)

# schools[]
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences