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About the Lecture

Many disease-causing organisms are transmitted to humans and other hosts by insects or other small animals, termed vectors. Trematodes are flatworm parasites that infect humans and other animals and are vectored by snails. Microorganisms that do not cause disease also live in vectors and can affect the transmission of pathogens, such as certain species of bacteria that alter malaria transmission from mosquitoes. The major goal of my research is to explore whether the bacteria living in snails impact trematode transmission. As a first step toward this larger research goal, I attempted to identify bacterial species that were more or less common in trematode-infected snails compared with non-infected snails using DNA sequencing and sophisticated data analysis.

Event Details

• Lecture to be held in the Todd Multipurpose Room, Kreitzberg Library. 
• Light refreshments will be served, please feel free to bring your own lunch.

About Dr. Neal

Allison Neal is an associate professor in the biology department and serves as the Undergraduate Research Program Director at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. She received her PhD in 2014 from the University of Vermont, where she studied the evolution of sex ratios in lizard malaria parasites in California. Since coming to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ in 2015, she has focused on establishing a local research system studying trematode parasites in Vermont snails to ensure that research experiences are readily accessible to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ students both in and out of the classroom. In spring 2024, Dr. Neal spent her Independent Study Leave learning techniques to work with bacteria in a microbiology laboratory at the University of Vermont. Since then, she has begun to study how multicellular parasites like trematodes interact with the microscopic bacteria with whom they live.

About the Charles A. Dana Category I Grants

The Charles A. Dana Category I Grants are supported by an endowed fund from the Dana Foundation for the purpose of attracting and retaining faculty of exceptional caliber. Grants are awarded annually to tenure-track faculty who demonstrate superior scholarship, teaching ability, and university service.

Grant recipients participate in the Charles A. Dana Category I Lecture Series during the year in which they receive their awards.