Pathogenesis
Faculty Expertise and Research Areas

Mary Brown

  • Studies how mycoplasmas cause respiratory and urogenital infections in animals and humans.
  • Develops diagnostic tools and models for emerging mycoplasmal diseases in reptiles and livestock.
  • Investigates links between mycoplasmas and reproductive or urinary tract health in women.

Roy Curtiss 

  • Develops recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASVs) for oral, needle-free immunization.
  • Studies bacterial pathogenicity and designs safe, effective live vaccines using genetic engineering.
  • Innovates vaccine delivery and containment strategies to target infectious diseases and cancer.

Rhoel Dinglasan

  • Applying systems biology, bench-to-bedside approaches to understand vector-borne disease transmission dynamics.
  • Investigating host–pathogen interactions and pathogen developmental biology to drive the development of vaccines, vaccine delivery platforms, and point-of-need diagnostics.

Aria Eshraghi

  • Investigating the mechanisms by which bacteria use virulence factors to evade immune detection and cause disease.

Clayton Mathews

  • Studies immune regulation and beta cell dysfunction in type 1 diabetes.
  • Investigates early disease markers using proteomics and transcriptomics.
  • Develops immunotherapies to delay or prevent diabetes progression.

Ayalew Mergia

  • Exploring host–virus interactions to inform therapeutic and vaccine development.

Julie M. Moore

  •  Using human studies, in vitro cell culture models, and mouse models to study malaria pathogenesis in pregnancy and deepen understanding of placental biology in health and disease.

Cuong Nguyen

  • Studies the causes and progression of Sjögren’s syndrome to improve diagnostics and therapies.
  • Develops antibody-based treatments for Zika and Dengue using single-cell technology.
  • Creates rapid diagnostic tools for detecting oxalate in kidney stone disease.

Bikash Sahay

  • Studies the human gut microbiota and its role in health and disease.
  • Identifies beneficial microbes and their products for therapeutic use.
  • Explores microbiota-based treatments for infections and other conditions.

Banikalyan Swain

  • Develops novel vaccines and immunotherapies for aquatic animal pathogens.
  • Investigates host-pathogen interactions and immune signaling in fish.
  • Focuses on improving aquaculture health through molecular immunology.

Kuttichantran Subramaniam

  • Characterizes emerging viruses in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.
  • Uses phylogenomics to study viral biology, evolution, and epidemiology.
  • Develops broad diagnostic tools for virus detection across species.

Shifeng Wang

  • Develops recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASVs) for infectious diseases.
  • Focuses on Salmonella, Streptococcus pneumonia, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and influenza.
  • Aims to enhance vaccine efficacy for human, veterinary, and poultry health.

Liang Zhou

  • Examining transcriptional and metabolic regulation of tissue immune responses in health and disease.

University of Florida

IFAS

As part of both the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and UF Health, Veterinary Medicine is dedicated to advancing animal, human and environmental health through teaching, research, extension and patient care.

IFAS

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

Animal Hospitals

Need animal care? Visit the UF Small Animal and Large Animal Hospitals. From dogs, cats, birds and exotics to horses, cattle, llamas, pigs and many other large farm or food animals, our experienced veterinarian staff is ready to assist.

Animal Airwaves

Syndicated Podcast

Animal Airwaves

Animal Airwaves is a daily radio series that features one-minute segments relating to animal health, ranging from insights into animal behavior to veterinary patient care breakthroughs and trends.

Animal Airwaves