Research Hub

Questions worth chasing.

Where veterinary medicine, conservation biology, and ecological stewardship meet — the research I'm actively pursuing to understand the diseases and dynamics shaping animal and ocean health.

Featured Project · Active

Fungal disease in California sea lions.

Marine mammals are sentinels for ocean health — and emerging fungal pathogens are an under-explored threat at the boundary of wildlife, environment, and human health. This project investigates fungal disease in California sea lions: how these pathogens establish themselves, what their presence signals about a changing ocean, and how veterinary pathology can help us catch it earlier.

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Sentinel species

Sea lions reflect the health of the whole marine ecosystem around them.

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Fungal pathology

How emerging fungi exploit their environment to establish new niches.

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One Health lens

Disease at the blurring line between wildlife, domestic animals, and people.

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Principal Collaborator
Dr. Isabel Jimenez, DVM, PhD, DACLAM

Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular & Comparative Pathobiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, with research ties to the Casadevall Laboratory studying how emerging fungal pathogens harness their environment. A Cornell-trained veterinarian-scientist focused on infectious diseases across the animal–human–wildlife interface.

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Areas of Focus

Where I'm digging in.

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Infectious Disease
Emerging Pathogens

How novel pathogens cross the boundaries between wildlife, domestic animals, and people as those boundaries blur.

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Marine Mammal Medicine
Ocean Sentinels

Using the health of marine mammals as a window into the health of the oceans they live in.

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Conservation Biology
Medicine Meets Ecology

Veterinary science in service of ecosystems — where clinical medicine and stewardship become one practice.

Researching something at the animal–human–ocean interface?

I'm always open to collaborators, mentors, and institutions working on the questions that keep me up at night.

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