The parasitologists in the department have diverse research and teaching interests, with heavy involvement in veterinary, graduate (MPS) and undergraduate education in parasitology. Research interests focus on: the study of the interface of the pathogen and host at the level of the host's immune response, the nature of the protective immune response and how the pathogen modulates the host response to ensure its success, the detection, treatment and prevalence of parasites of veterinary importance (including those of zoonotic concern), and the disinfection of wastewater and sewage. The parasites studied include protozoan, helminth, arthropod pathogens: Cryptosporidium, Giardia, Icthyophthirius, Toxoplasma gondii, Toxocara, Ascaris, Aelurostrongylus, and ticks, to name a few.

Faculty

Judith A. Appleton, PhD, Vice Provost and Alfred H. Caspary Professor of Immunology

Research Interest: Exploring parasitic diseases of animals, including the ways in which the body fights (or fails to fight) infection with the worm Trichinella spiralis; the immune response to the worm Parelaphostrongylus tenuis; and ways to turn a parasite’s own chemical signals against itself.

Dwight Bowman, PhD, Professor of Parasitology

Research Interest: Soil transmitted parasites, parasites of wildlife, biosurveillance

Margaret Bynoe, PhD, Professor of Immunology

Research Interest: The molecular basis of antigen induced immune suppression and the modulation of the innate immune system response in immunity against cancer; the role of adenosine in immune and central nervous system barrier regulation

Donna Cassidy-Hanley, Ph.D., Senior Research Associate
Research Interest: Infectious and non-infectious diseases of fish; emerging pathogens of fish

Theodore Clark, PhD, Professor of Parasitology & Immunology and Interim Department Chair

Research Interest: Vaccine Development; Mitochondrial Dynamics; Evolution of Antigen Presentation in teleost fish; Biology of the ciliated protozoa Tetrahymena and Ichthyophthirius