Three experts from across campus will each discuss their work related to emerging diseases and respond to questions from attendees during the #FunkPanel2024. Their work includes development of the Swine Biosecurity project to prevent the introduction and spread of diseases on farms, research on chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer, and research to understand the effects of landscape change on the emergence and transmission of diseases. This hybrid panel presentation on Tuesday, April 9, 2024 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. (Central) will be an opportunity for people to come together with the Funk ACES Library to learn about and discuss emerging disease research and initiatives led by members of our campus community.
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Livestreaming for virtual attendees was made possible by the R.J. "Rusty" Laible Endowment Fund.
Dr. Varga is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Pathobiology Department, College of Veterinary Medicine. His laboratory focuses on understanding the distribution and clustering of diseases at the population level. His team has developed a new, education website, which is a one-stop-shop of biosecurity information and resources for pork producers and veterinarians.
Dr. Mateus-Pinilla is a Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiologist. She works at the interface of wildlife diseases conservation and domestic animal and human health. For the pas 22 years, she has studied Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in the Illinois wild (unowned) free-ranging white-tailed deer herd. Dr. Mateus-Pinilla is the Director of the Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology laboratory at the Illinois Natural History Survey-Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. her program supports graduate and undergraduate students, academic professionals, and Post-doctoral Research Associates.
Dr. Allan is a Professor in the Department of Entomology. He is broadly interested in the ecology of infectious diseases, particularly diseases transmitted via the bite of an infected arthropod (e.g., ticks, mosquitoes). Much of his research focuses upon the consequences of human-mediated global change, such as climate change and human land-use, on the risk of exposure to parasites and pathogens carried by wildlife. He is especially interested in understanding the effects of landscape change on the emergence and transmission of tick-born diseases.