Rebecca Bacon, a veterinary pathologist and PhD student who I am co-mentoring with Dr. Sara Lawhon, was awarded a Ruth L Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) for 3 years of PhD study at Texas A&M University on her project “Characterization of idiopathic chronic diarrhea in Rhesus macaques as a model of post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome and the role of Campylobacter spp. in disease development.” I am looking forward to continuing to mentor Dr. Bacon throughout her graduate career, and to the contributions this project will make to the scientific community.
New job position – Assistant Professor at M.D. Anderson
On August 1st, I joined M.D. Anderson’s Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine and Research as an Assistant Professor, Research Faculty Appointment. I’m very excited to start this next chapter of my career and look forward to continuing my research on T. cruzi, mastering non-human primate pathology, contributing to GLP pre-clinical drug studies, and working to advance M.D. Anderson’s mission of cancer research and treatment.
New Job Position – Lecturer in Anatomic Pathology
I’ve accepted a position as a “Lecturer” in anatomic pathology in the Veterinary Pathobiology department at Texas A&M University. The primary responsibilities of this position are to oversee and teach pathology residents and vet students on the necropsy service in the pathology diagnostic lab at the veterinary teaching hospital. The position also affords some flex time to pursue other academic interests, including research. I’m excited for this opportunity to return to pathology and continue working toward an independent academic career!
Brazospox paper just out in Emerging Infectious Diseases journal
Exciting publication from a really cool side project – we identified a novel poxvirus in skin lesions of wild Baiomys mice in Texas. This was a great collaboration between Texas A&M Vet Med, Wildlife & Fisheries, and the CDC! https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/6/17-2057_article
Grant awarded for Chagas work in non-human primates
Very excited that we were awarded a $30,000 grant from the American College of Lab Animal Medicine (ACLAM) Foundation to study transmission ecology of Trypanosoma cruzi among non-human primates in a research and breeding facility in Central Texas. We in the Hamer lab have been collaborating with researchers at this facility for a few years (see recent NHP pub), and are happy to receive some dedicated funding for this research! This project will track parasitemia and infectivity to vectors (xenodiagnosis) in a cohort of naturally infected macaques over a year, as well as look for evidence of vertical and direct horizontal transmission among monkeys using housing records and banked serum samples.
New pub alert – T. cruzi ecology at non-human primate facility
Another chapter of my dissertation now published online in EcoHealth journal. Check it out!
Trypanosoma cruzi Transmission Among Captive Nonhuman Primates, Wildlife, and Vectors. CL Hodo, GK Wilkerson, EC Birkner, SB Gray, SA Hamer
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10393-018-1318-5
