Mzt

Scialog

/

Mitigating Zoonotic Threats

2021-2023

Today, most new or emerging infectious diseases in people cross over from animals. As the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear, a deeper understanding of the interactions between animals, people, pathogens and their environments could expand our ability to rapidly detect emerging pathogens and to quickly develop and deploy new medical countermeasures. This Scialog will bring together early-career scientists from multiple disciplines (including chemists, biologists, physicists, computer scientists, veterinary scientists, epidemiologists and public health specialists) along with scientists from federal agencies and thought leaders in the detection and mitigation of existing and emerging zoonotic threats. They will form an interdisciplinary community to catalyze basic scientific advances related to: rapid detection, identification, and diagnosis of pathogens and threats; mechanisms and inhibition of emerging and zoonotic disease pathogenesis; new approaches to vaccine development including methods that speed development or lead to broad-spectrum immunity; and modeling of epidemiology leading to actionable approaches to mitigating transmission.

Fellows & Facilitators

Fellows
  • Salvador Almagro-Moreno
    Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences
    University of Central Florida 

    Cheryl Andam
    Biological Sciences
    University at Albany, SUNY 

    Tavis Anderson
    Virus and Prion Research Unit
    USDA/ARS 

    Angela Arenas
    Veterinary Pathobiology
    Texas A&M University, College Station 

    Justin Bahl
    Infectious Disease
    University of Georgia 

    Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau
    Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab
    Southern Illinois University Carbondale 

    Daniel Becker
    Biology
    University of Oklahoma

    Ana Isabel Bento
    Epidemiology and Biostatistics
    Indiana University Bloomington

    Paola Boggiatto
    Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research Unit
    USDA/ARS

    Patricia Calvo
    Chemistry
    Kansas State University

    Yanling Chang
    Engineering Technology and Industrial Distribution
    Texas A&M University, College Station 

    Lauren Charles
    Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
    Washington State University

    Christopher Cleveland
    Population Health
    University of Georgia

    Nsa Dada
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

    Nicholas DeFelice
    Environmental Medicine & Public Health
    Mount Sinai School of Medicine 

    Nicole Eikmeier
    Computer Science
    Grinnell College 

    Pilar Fernandez
    Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
    Washington State University 

    Hannah Frank
    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    Tulane University

    Jenna Guthmiller
    Immunology and Microbiology
    University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

    Hayden Hamby
    National Wildlife Research Center
    USDA/APHIS 

    Amy Hartman
    Center for Vaccine Research, Graduate School of Public Health
    University of Pittsburgh 

    Crystal Hepp
    Pathogen Genomics Division
    Translational Genomics Research Institute

    Claudia Herrera
    Tropical Medicine
    Tulane University School of Public Health
     
    Matthew Hopken
    Rabies Research Project
    USDA/APHIS 

    Diego Huet
    Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
    University of Georgia 

    Silvie Huijben
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University – Tempe Campus 

    Joyce Jose
    Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    Pennsylvania State University 

    Kristin Koutmou
    Chemistry
    University of Michigan 

    Jason Ladner
    Biology
    Northern Arizona University

    Steven Lakin
    Veterinary Services
    USDA/APHIS

    Kimberly Lehman
    Veterinary Services
    USDA/APHIS 

    Charles Lewis
    Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine
    Iowa State University 

    Efrem Lim
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University – Tempe Campus 

    Hongfu Liu
    Computer Science
    Brandeis University

    Louise Moncla
    Pathobiology
    University of Pennsylvania

    Muhammad Muzafar Makhdoomi
    National Veterinary Services Laboratories – Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory
    USDA/APHIS 

    Jenny Maloney
    BARC Environmental Microbial & Food Safety Lab
    USDA/ARS

    Kezia Manlove
    Wildland Resources and Ecology Center
    Utah State University 

    Bethany McGregor
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA/ARS

    Gisselle Medina
    National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
    USDA/ARS
     
    Angad Mehta
    Chemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

    Dana Mitzel
    Foreign Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA/ARS

    Adela Oliva Chavez
    Entomology
    Texas A&M University, College Station

    Dan Peach
    Savannah River Ecology Lab & Dept. of Infectious Disease
    University of Georgia
                 
    Sen Pei
    Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health
    Columbia University 

    Kim Pepin
    National Wildlife Research Center 
     
    Alex Perkins
    Biological Sciences
    University of Notre Dame

    Catalina Picasso Risso
    Veterinary Preventive Medicine
    Ohio State University        

    Lars Plate
    Chemistry and Biological Sciences
    Vanderbilt University

    Erik Procko
    Biochemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Crystal Reid
    Center for Veterinary Biologics – Virology
    USDA/APHIS 

    Brenda Rubenstein
    Chemistry
    Brown University  

    Audrey Ruple
    Public Health
    Purdue University

    Karla Saavedra-Rodriguez
    Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology
    Colorado State University 

    Liliana Salvador
    Infectious Diseases & Institute of Bioinformatics
    University of Georgia 

    Danae Schulz
    Biology
    Harvey Mudd College

    Michael Schulz
    Chemistry
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

    Stacey Scroggs
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA/ARS

    Stephanie Seifert
    Paul G. Allen School for Global Health
    Washington State University 

    Prashant Singh
    Nutrition & Integrative Physiology
    Florida State University

    Rebecca Smith
    Pathobiology
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Timothy Smyser
    USDA/APHIS 

    Avery Strait
    Veterinary Services
    USDA/APHIS 

    Troy Sutton
    Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
    Pennsylvania State University

    Yun Tao
    Institute of Bioinformatics
    University of Georgia 

    Laurene Tetard
    Physics / Nanoscience Technology Center
    University of Central Florida 

    Christoph Thaiss
    Microbiology
    University of Pennsylvania
     
    Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec
    Environmental Sciences
    Emory University 

    Heather Walden
    Comparative, Diagnostic and Population Medicine
    University of Florida 

    Mark Wilber
    Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries
    University of Tennessee, Knoxville 

    William Witola
    Pathobiology
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Nicholas Wu
    Biochemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 

    Xiaohu Xia
    Chemistry
    University of Central Florida

    Anni Yang
    Geography and Environmental Sustainability
    University of Oklahoma 

    Ahmet Ali Yanik
    Electrical & Computer Engineering
    University of California, Santa Cruz

    Sara Zimmer
    Biomedical Sciences
    University of Minnesota Twin Cities 
Facilitators

Team Awards

Goal: to advance fundamental science in the detection and mitigation of existing and emerging animal-borne infectious diseases.

2023 Team Awards

When Pigs Fly: Animal Movement Networks to Project Spillovers

  • Tavis Anderson
    Virus and Prion Research Unit
    USDA/ARS  

    Louise Moncla
    Pathobiology
    University of Pennsylvania

    Nicholas DeFelice
    Environmental Medicine & Public Health
    Mount Sinai School of Medicine 

From Discovery to Field: Improving Diagnostic Assay Accuracy by Protein Engineering

  • Angela Arenas
    Veterinary Pathobiology
    Texas A&M University, College Station  

    Nicholas Wu
    Biochemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  

    Crystal Reid
    Center for Veterinary Biologics – Virology
    USDA/APHIS  

Nectar of the Gods: Impact of Flower Nectar on Mosquito Longevity and Virus Transmission

  • Dan Peach
    Savannah River Ecology Lab & Department of Infectious Disease
    University of Georgia

    Stacey Scroggs
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA/ARS

    Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec
    Environmental Sciences
    Emory University

To Catch a Virus: Decoy Polymers and Influenza’s Evolutionary Response

  • Michael Schulz
    Chemistry
    Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

    Louise Moncla
    Pathobiology
    University of Pennsylvania

Novel Insecticide Delivery and Formulation for Resistance Management in Zoonotic Disease Vectors 

  • Nsa Dada
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

    Bethany McGregor
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit,
    USDA/ARS

    Patricia Calvo
    Chemistry
    Kansas State University

Development of an Integrative Approach to Enhance Surveillance Sensitivity Systems for Wildlife Spillover of Bovine Tuberculosis: Wild Pig Case Study

  • Liliana Salvador
    Animal and Comparative Biomedical Sciences,
    University of Arizona 

    Catalina Picasso Risso
    Large Animal Clinical Sciences
    Michigan State University

    Timothy Smyser
    National Wildlife Research Center
    USDA/APHIS  

    Anni Yang
    Geography and Environmental Sustainability
    University of Oklahoma
2022 Team Awards

Measuring and Modeling Mosquito Flight and Movement Behavior at High Spatiotemporal Resolution

  • Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau
    Cooperative Wildlife Research Lab
    Southern Illinois University

    Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec Environmental Sciences
    Emory University

Identifying and Engineering Broadly Neutralizing Antibodies Against African Swine Fever Virus

  • Gisselle Medina
    National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
    USDA/ARS

    Angad Mehta
    Chemistry
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Impact of Climate Variability on Foreign Animal Disease: Forecasting Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza

  • Nicholas DeFelice
    Environmental Medicine and Public Health
    Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

    Kimberly A. Lehman
    Diagnostics and Biologics
    USDA/APHIS Veterinary Services

    Sen Pei
    Environmental Health Sciences
    Columbia University

Incorporating Human Behavioral Systems in Insecticide Resistance Management for Mosquito-Borne Diseases

  • Pilar Fernandez
    Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
    Washington State University,

    Silvie Huijben
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University

Metagenomic-guided Tests of Zoonotic Pathogen Diversity in Migratory Wildlife

  • Daniel Becker
    Biology
    University of Oklahoma

    Claudia Herrera
    Tropical Medicine
    Tulane University

    Steven M. Lakin
    National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
    USDA/APHIS

Impact of Synonymous Mutation on Translation Speed and Protein Folding During Host Adaptation

  • Kristin Koutmou
    Chemistry
    University of Michigan

    Gisselle Medina
    National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
    USDA/ARS

    Lars Plate
    Chemistry and Biological Sciences
    Vanderbilt University

A Sensitive Lateral Flow Assay for Point-of-Care Testing of Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

  • Claudia Herrera
    Tropical Medicine
    Tulane University

    Dana Mitzel
    National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility
    USDA/ARS

    Xiaohu Xia
    Chemistry
    University of Central Florida
2021 Team Awards

Darwin’s Naturalization Conundrum Predicts Inter-species Pathogen Transmission Potential

  • Tavis Anderson
    Virus and Prion Research Unit
    USDA 

    Cheryl Andam
    Biological Sciences
    University at Albany, SUNY  
  • Nicole Eikmeier
    Computer Science
    Grinnell College

Enabling Comprehensive Immunoprofiling in Animals through a Combination of Xenosurveillance and Highly-multiplexed Serology

  • Bethany McGregor
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA
  • Paola Boggiatto
    Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research Unit
    USDA

    Jason Ladner
    Biology
    Northern Arizona University

Employing Color-Changing Nanomaterials to Improve Vector-borne Disease Surveillance

  • Laurene Tetard
    Physics/Nanoscience Technology Center
    University of Central Florida

    Bethany McGregor
    Arthropod Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit
    USDA

Invasion Ecology and Genomics of Emerging Tick Borne Arboviruses: Predicting Niche Expansion of Heartland Virus Following the Invasion of Asian Longhorned Ticks in the U.S.

  • Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec
    Environmental Sciences
    Emory University

    Tavis Anderson
    Virus and Prion Research Unit
    USDA 

Host Adaptation of Mycobacterium bovis: A Comparative Transcriptomics Study of M. bovis Infection in a Multi-host System

  • Paola Boggiatto
    Infectious Bacterial Diseases Research Unit
    USDA

    Liliana Salvador
    Infectious Diseases & Institute of Bioinformatics
    University of Georgia

Characterizing the Socio-ecological Spillover Interface by Xenosurveillance of Pathogen Metacommunities Using a Novel Insect Group

  • Pilar Fernandez
    Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health
    Washington State University  

    Matthew Hopken
    National Wildlife Research Center
    USDA

Estimating Aedes aegypti Spillover Potential and Evaluation of Current Mitigation Strategies

  • Crystal Hepp
    School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
    Northern Arizona University

    Silvie Huijben
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University – Tempe Campus

    Kezia Manlove
    Wildland Resources and Ecology Center
    Utah State University

Discovering How RNA Epigenomic Modifications Impact Flavivirus Replication Speed and Fidelity

  • Joyce Jose
    Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    Pennsylvania State University

    Kristin Koutmou
    Chemistry
    University of Michigan

Zoonotic Implications of Host Genetics, Immunity, and Virome in Bats

  • Hannah Frank
    Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
    Tulane University

    Daniel Becker
    Biology
    University of Oklahoma

    Jason Ladner
    Biology
    Northern Arizona University

    Efrem Lim
    Life Sciences
    Arizona State University – Tempe Campus

Understanding Viral Factors Responsible for Vector Adaptation and Spillover for Surveillance and Mitigation of Zoonotic Flaviviruses with Pandemic Potential

  • Dana Mitzel
    Foreign Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Unit
    USDA’s National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility

    Joyce Jose
    Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
    Pennsylvania State University

Conference Booklets

SPONSORS

Additional Support