Life-history Strategy and Immune Function
Migration is an energetically costly life-history strategy. Bats invest up to 50% of their mass in fat reserves for flight, resulting in energetic trade-offs, including immune system costs, and ultimately, affecting survival.
Ecological immunology aims to understand innate and adaptive immune response to environmental changes while considering life-history traits and evolution. |
My research uses paired transcriptomics, proteomics, and hematology to illuminate important biological terms and pathways involved in pathogen defense, reveal disease biomarkers, and pathogens of zoonotic spillover risk. I am using North American and Neotropical bat species in Oklahoma, Panama, and Belize to answer my research questions. |