Kathleen Alexander
Portrait of professor Kathy Alexander, department of Fish and Wildlife.
Office: 114 Cheatham Hall
B.S., University of California, Davis (1982)
D.V.M., University of California, Davis (1994)
Ph.D., University of California, Davis (1995)
RESERACH INTERESTS
My research program is directed at exploring and understanding the factors that influence the emergence and persistence of emerging and re-emerging diseases at the human- wildlife-environmental interface. My program embraces a systems biology approach to ecosystem health integrated with public health, beginning within host - pathogen dynamics and extending to the livelihoods of communities living with wildlife, including the impact on ecosystem function and local communities themselves. My approach integrates critical crosscutting elements that can influence infectious disease dynamics such as culture and behavior, gender dimensions, and climate change.
Courses Taught:
- Disease Ecology and Ecosystem Health (3 credit hours - FIW 3414) –Undergraduate level
- Advanced Topics in Disease Ecology (3 credit hours - FIW 5984)- Graduate level
- Fundamentals of Immunity and Infectious Disease (8 credits - TBMH 5054, co-instructor) –Graduate level
- Global Impacts of the Illegal Use and Trade in Wildlife: Socioeconomic Drivers and Application of Wildlife Forensic Techniques
Catalogue Description: Principles of disease ecology with practical application of concepts using both human and wildlife disease examples. Importance of emerging infectious disease in conservation planning, public health, and wildlife management.
Catalogue Description: Advanced topics in disease ecology with practical application of concepts in both tropical and temperate regions. Concepts embedded in the framework of ecosystem health and the human-wildlife health continuum. Importance of emerging infectious disease to human health, ecosystems dynamics, and wildlife management will be highlighted.
Comprehensive survey of human immunity, infectious agents and disease across scales: genetic, molecular, cellular, tissue, organism, society. Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of infectious and immune diseases. Social and economic aspects of infection disease and immunity.
To learn more about Alexander's research initiatives please visit: https://www.caracal.info/