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Biography
I am Assistant Professor in the Department of Farm Animal Medicine at Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. I completed my veterinary training at Colorado State University, followed by a combined large animal internal medicine residency and Ph.D. program at the University of Georgia. With a Ph.D. in comparative biomedical sciences--immunology emphasis, my laboratory conducts research that supports the One Health Initiative by producing work that promotes the health and advancement of animals and people. By developing and implementing clinically and physiologically relevant disease models, my research focuses on defining and characterizing the immune system during infection at a tissue level. Specifically, I am investigating the importance of age-related changes in immune cell function in developing protective immunity against Cryptosporidium parvum – a disease of critical importance in both cattle and people. My research efforts also include examining the immune response in the development of bovine respiratory disease (BRD), which is a complex syndrome caused by multiple pathogens, including bovine respiratory syncytial virus, a virus similar to RSV in people. Understanding the complex communication between host immune and non-immune cells and host cell-pathogen interactions in immunity against pathogens will ultimately offer the opportunity to develop and evaluate the efficacy of novel immunotherapies to decrease morbidity and mortality in people and animals alike.