Maria Diuk-Wasser

Professor Diuk-Wasser is interested in modeling the environmental and ecological drivers of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases using intensive field and laboratory-derived data.  Under the conceptual framework of landscape epidemiology and using the tools of geographic information systems, remote sensing and spatial statistics, she predicts human disease foci by modeling the distribution of pathogens, vectors and hosts.  Within these areas of risk, she is currently focusing on environmental drivers of pathogen transmission dynamics, with the ultimate goal of generating spatio-temporal predictions of risk. Current areas of interest include generating a spatial risk map of Lyme disease in the United States and of West Nile virus (WNV) in Connecticut and studying how climate, landscape and host diversity affect vector host-feeding behavior, in turn affecting transmission dynamics and pathogen genetic diversity.  Her disease study systems are WNV, Lyme disease and malaria. Other interests include landscape ecology and genetics, animal behavior and conservation biology.