The Department of Integrative Biology is pleased to welcome Dr. Cara Brook as an Assistant Professor starting July 2025. The Brook lab uses tools derived from field biology, molecular immunology, and epidemiological modeling to study how pathogens persist, transmit, and evolve in both wild animal and human hosts. Much of their work is focused on zoonotic infections derived from bat reservoirs, and they conduct the majority of their wildlife field studies in Madagascar. They also use populational viability analysis techniques to evaluate conservation trajectories for threatened wildlife, again with a regional focus in Madagascar. Finally, they conduct more applied human health research, focused on quantifying transmission dynamics for vector-borne and respiratory viruses circulating in the Global South, using public surveillance or genomic epidemiological data. Learn more about the Brook lab here.