David Stallknecht

Research Interests

Understanding the impacts of diseases on wildlife populations and the potential for these species to act as reservoirs or sentinels for livestock, poultry, and human diseases represent the central missions of our lab. Most of my current work is oriented towards the epidemiology of viral and vector-borne diseases, specifically:

• Epidemiology of bluetongue and the epizootic hemorrhagic disease viruses in white-tailed deer;
• Natural history of avian influenza viruses in free-living duck and shorebird populations;

Specific research objectives are variable reflecting the multi-disciplinary mix of our immediate group and an abundance of intra- and extramural collaborative opportunities, and range from improving basic and molecular diagnostic tests, understanding pathogenesis, development of sentinel systems involving wildlife, understanding mechanisms involved in pathogen transmission and persistence, to molecular epidemiology.