latest updates

December 2023: Amanda Vicente publishes our first iteration of using serum proteomics to study the bat immune response to different pathogens, in a special co-edited issue of Frontiers in Immunology on the diversity of bat immune systems and bat–pathogen interactions. We also publish collaborative work on spatial variation in the immune response of house sparrows with European colleagues in EcoHealth (congrats to undergraduate alumnus Jessie Merrifield on their coauthored manuscript).

October 2023: We receive seed funding from OU DISC to support development of  hemoplasma genomes from bat blood samples, as part of a collaboration with Claudia Herrera and the Scialog Mitigating Zoonotic Threats program. The Lancet–PPATS Commission on Prevention of Viral Spillover is announced, with Dan as one of 28 elected commissioners. We get great coverage for our bat migration work from ODWC as part of Bat Week. Lastly, with Anni Yang, Cam Siler, and Hayley Lanier, we are awarded support from OU's Strategic Equipment Investment Program to buy an IsoPure 96, which will enhance wildlife nucleic acid extraction activities.

September 2023: We receive new funding from the Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation to support coronavirus surveillance in New World bats as well as development of relevant cell line and organoid models for in vitro infection studies, in collaboration with Arinjay Banerjee at VIDO. Our lab manuscript on Neotropical bat hemoplasmas is also accepted at One Health alongside a commentary on host traits and disease ecology in TREE. Working with Jeremy Ross and Kevin Castle, the lab sets up a Motus Wildlife Tracking System tower at the Selman Living Laboratory in western Oklahoma and deploys 40 PowerTags for bat migration research. 
 
August 2023: Amanda Vicente, Taylor Verrett, and Meagan Allira all present work at the 71st International Wildlife Disease Association Conference. Some new collaborative work with others at OU and partners in China on avian influenza virus outcomes among waterfowl species is accepted at Ecology Letters. We welcome Alicia Roistacher and Caroline Cummings as new PhD students, both of whom will be supported through the NSF-funded Verena Institute as part of the Lighthouse Scholars PhD Program. Kristin Dyer also formally transitions from technician into OU's MS program.

July 2023: A big "welcome" to Bret Demory, who has evolved from seasonal bat technician to full-time OU research assistant, funded by our HFSP grant.