Welcome to the “de Roode” Lab
We are in the Department of Biology and the Population Biology, Ecology and Evolution graduate program.
We study the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. Much of our work focuses on monarch butterflies, which use medicinal plants as a form of medication. We ask how bee-keeping practices may select for more harmful bee diseases, study how within-host competition between malaria parasites affects the evolution of drug resistance. In addition to these disease-related topics, we also study the genetics of monarch butterfly migration.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Monarch butterflies are commonly infected with a protozoan parasite. Long-term analysis shows that parasite prevalence has sharply increased since the early 2000’s, and that parasites kill up to millions of migratory monarchs each year.
Elevated carbon concentrations, as occurring through current climate change, can result in a loss of medicinal properties of milkweeds. See our paper in Ecology Letters.
Infectious diseases play a major role in the ongoing honey bee crisis. Insights from ecology and evolution may provide novel tools to mitigate these disease threats. See our review in Nature Ecology and Evolution. Our paper in PLoS One shows that simple changes to apiary designs can reduce mite spread and increase honey production.
Drug-sensitive malaria parasites suppress resistant parasites in human infections, potentially slowing down resistance spread. See our papers in Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B and PLOS Biology.
If you are interested in getting milkweed for pollinator gardens, please email me. Details are at deroodelab.org.
Many congratulations to Ahmed for receiving a Rhodes fellowship to obtain a Masters in Biology at the university of Oxford, studying climate change and coral reefs!
news.emory.edu/stories/2021/11/upress_rhodes_scholar_aljohani_20-11-2021/campus.html
Emory senior Ahmed Aljohani awarded prestigious Rhodes Scholarship
Biology major Ahmed Aljohani is Emory’s 21st student to be selected for the Rhodes Scholarship, which provides for study at the University of Oxford in England. Scholars are chosen based on outstanding intellect, character, leadership and service.Congratulations to Wajd for receiving highest honors for her research on the effects of crowding on monarch butterfly susceptibility to infectious disease!
Congrats - this project sounds interesting too - any way to get a copy?
How do you get free milkweed plants?
Lewis’ paper on honey bee viruses cane out in journal of invertebrate pathology. The study shows higher titters of viruses in industrially managed than lightly managed bees.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022201120302263
Persistent effects of management history on honeybee colony virus abundances
Infectious diseases are a major threat to both managed and wild pollinators. One key question is how the movement or transplantation of honeybee colon…Well done all.
Jaap commented on a really cool study on cats. The paper reported on here essentially shows that cats have identified a mosquito repellent that could potentially be used by humans. Go cats!
www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/01/why-cats-are-crazy-catnip
Congratulations to Kandis, Elizabeth and Wajd on their new paper on circadian biology in monarchs. In contrast with mice and people, monarch larvae seem to do pretty well with jet lag and do not get sicker with altered light schedules.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0748730420985312
Congratulations!!
We study the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, asking why evolution has favored parasites that are harmful to their hosts, and how hosts protect themselves against infections.
