About

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Arizona, AZ, USA. I received my bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and Pharmacology with a minor in Microbiology, and my Master’s in Health Sciences from the same university, working on microbial genetics (Mexico). I obtained my Ph.D. in Entomology from Kansas State University. My doctoral and postdoctoral research focused on understanding tick osmoregulatory mechanisms and characterizing the tick microbiome for the development of alternative methods for tick control. My current research interests include understanding the molecular physiology of alpha-gal syndrome (AGS, also known as red meat allergy) induced by lone star tick bites, and exploring the potential for other tick species to induce AGS sensitization. I am also interested in understanding tick microbiome and its role in tick-vector competence and the use of bacteria for tick control. One of my short-term goals is to characterize tick bacterial strains to identify taxa that can be exploited for tick management and mitigation of tick vector competence.