About NEVBD

NEVBD represents the Northeast region of the United States, covering 13 states and the District of Columbia.

NEVBD activities are guided by 3 overaching goals:

Goal 1: Training NEVBD is taking a multi-pronged approach to address the training and workforce needs of the Northeast region. We developed a new Master of Science in Entomology curriculum combining public health and vector biology to provide training for the next generation of public health entomologists. We also offer educational opportunities for current public health and vector control professionals working in the region and throughout the US. Learn more about these opportunities by exploring our training offerings.

Goal 2: Applied Research Our team of expert collaborators is working on an innovative applied research agenda, targeting new strategies for vector-borne disease monitoring, prediction, and control. Learn more about our applied research focus areas by visiting our research page.

Goal 3: Community of Practice One of our biggest efforts focuses on connecting partners across the Northeast to share knowledge, resources, and form new collaborations. NEVBD serves as a resource to connect individuals working at academic centers and public health agencies at local, state, and federal levels. These partnerships strengthen our ability to respond to vector-borne disease threats.

Structure of Our Network

NEVBD utilizes a three-pronged approach to addressing vector-borne diseases in our region. We bring together public health organizations at the local, state, and federal level, and academic communities to collaborate on pressing vector-borne disease concerns.

  • Collaborators working in public health bring expertise in mosquito and tick surveillance, prevention, and control, and are well poised to effectively engage with our communities
  • Academic researchers focus on key factors of vector biology, including the impact of climate and weather on tick and mosquito overwintering, insecticide resistance monitoring, and the ability of different tick and mosquito species to acquire and transmit disease
  • Center partners will develop and offer a variety of training programs. These include formal academic training programs for medical entomologists, as well continuing education for professionals working in public health, environmental health, and medicine.

These combined efforts will ensure that the next cadre of medical entomologists and public health practitioners are well prepared to address current and future vector-borne disease challenges, and will provide valuable insight into effective prevention and control tools that can be used to combat diseases carried by ticks and mosquitoes in the Northeast USA.

The end goal of this work is to improve the lives of those living in our communities through the prevention of exposure to ticks and mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.

NEVBD Leadership

Laura C. Harrington, PhD
Laura C. Harrington, PhD

Professor, Department of Entomology, Cornell University

NEVBD Program Director

Philip Armstrong, ScD
Philip Armstrong, ScD

Agricultural Scientist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

P. Bryon Backenson, MS
P. Bryon Backenson, MS

Deputy Director for Disease Control, NYS Department of Health

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

Maria Diuk-Wasser, PhD
Maria Diuk-Wasser, PhD

Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

Dina M. Fonseca, PhD
Dina M. Fonseca, PhD

Professor, Department of Entomology, Rutgers University

Director, Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

Alexander Ciota, PhD
Alexander Ciota, PhD

Director, Wadsworth Center Arbovirus Laboratory, NYS Department of Public Health

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

Thomas J. Daniels, PhD
Thomas J. Daniels, PhD

Director, Louis Calder Center, Fordham University

NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator

Emily M. Mader, MPH MPP
Emily M. Mader, MPH MPP

NEVBD Program Manager

Department of Entomology, Cornell University

Lindsay Baxter, MS
Lindsay Baxter, MS

Project Manager, Research Support Specialist

NEVBD Pesticide Resistance Monitoring Program

NEVBD Postdoctoral Researchers & Trainees

Columbia University

Postdoctoral Researchers
Postdoctoral Researchers

Jonathan Bastard, PhD Modeling hosts, ticks, and pathogen dynamics at the natural-urban interface to investigate ecological and anthropological drivers of Lyme disease


Matthew Combs, PhD Role of white-footed mice in tick and tick-borne pathogen distribution in urban areas


Nichar Gregory, PhD Surveillance of ticks and hosts in New York City parks and residential yards, assessing the factors involvd in tick/pathogen spillover


Maria del Pilar Fernandez, PhD, Assistant Professor, Washington State University Natural and anthropogenic drivers of tick-borne disease emergence


Danielle Tufts, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Pittsburgh Relative frequency of H. longicornis feeding on small and medium-sized mammals

Doctoral Students
Doctoral Students

Pallavi Kache, Landscape and climate determinants of Ae. albopictus abundance and Aedes-borne diseases


Laura Plimpton, Contribution of feral cats to the Lyme disease system


Meredith VanAcker. PhD, Landscape composition and configuration surrounding and within parks contributes to presense, densitities, and infection of Ixodes scapularis

Graduate Students
Graduate Students

Olivia Card, Surveillance of ticks and hosts in New York City parks and residential yards, factors involved in tick/pathogen spillover


Marie Lilly, Ecological determinants and human perception of mosquito- and tickk-borne hazards across an urbanization gradient


Daniel Mathisson, Role of vegetation on the desnity of Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum, and Haemaphysalis longicornis in New York City and Rockland County, NY


Max McClure, MD, Statistical modeling linking entomological risk and epidemiologic data to predict Lyme disease


Michaela Mincone, Surveillance of ticks and hosts in New York City parks and residential yards, assessing the factors involved in tick/pathogen spillover


Amanda Weaver, Role of weather variables on the density of Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum, and Haemaphysalis longicornis in New York City

Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

Postdoctoral Researchers
Postdoctoral Researchers

Gillian Eastwood, PhD, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech

Evaluation of new combinations of scented lures and trap technology for monitoring mosquito populations and arboviruses


Eliza Little, PhD, Epidemiologist, Connecticut Department of Public Health

Spatio-temporal analysis of tick populations and tick-borne pathogens in Connecticut


J.R. McMillan, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

Epidemiological evaluations of Cx. pipiens control for West Nile virus; community ecology of arboviruses


Rohit Sharma, PhD

Vector competence trials of local tick populations for Powassan virus lineage II

Cornell University

Postdoctoral Researchers
Postdoctoral Researchers

James Burtis, PhD, Biologist, Division of Vector-Borne Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Establishing the Pesticide Resistance Monitoring Network (NEVBD) and assessing arthropod resistance to acaricides and pesticides

Doctoral Students
Doctoral Students

Kara Fikrig, PhD, Feeding ecology of Ae. albopictus in New York


Talya Shragai, PhD, Epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

How intraspecific variation in physiology contributes to the geographic expansion of Ae. albopictus

Graduate Students
Graduate Students

Antonio Alvarado, MS, Mosquito-Borne Disease Program Coordinator, Labanon County Conservation District, PA

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of National Park Service employees and local risk regarding Chagas disease


Lindsay Baxter, MS, Pesticide Resistance Monitoring Program Manager, NEVBD, Cornell University

Ecological associations of Powassan virus foci in Maine


Cierra Briggs, MS, Program Associate, McDermott Livestock Entomology Lab, University of Arkansas

Mosquito diversity, blood feeding patterns, and arboviral risk at the Nashville Zoo


Mervin Cuadera, MS, Epidemiologist / Medical Entomologist, New Jersey Department of Health

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Long Island residents regarding ticks and tick-borne disease prevention


Nicole Foley, MS, ORISE Fellow, Division of Vector-Borne Disease, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Borrelia miyamotoi spatio-temporal trends in New York State; New York State Tick Blitz


Erin Hassett, MS, Graduate Student, SUNY ESF

Integrating tick density and park visitor behavior to assess risk of tick exposure in urban parks


Jamie Mangan, MS, Vector Surveillance Specialist, Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois – Champaign-Urbana

Ecology of eastern equine encephalitis virus in coastal Virginia


Joseph Poggi, MS, Lab Manager, Applied Wildlife Ecology Lab, Yale University

Ecology of Jamestown Canyon virus in New Hampshire


Phurchhoki Sherpa, MS, Medical Entomology Program Coordinator, Purdue Unviersity Extension

Optimal surveillance methods for Haemaphysalis longicornis


James Stewart, Population ecology of Culex erraticus in New Jersey


Kate Thornburg, MS, Research Assistant / Insectary Technician, Catteruccia Lab, Harvard University

Evaluation of local tick populations and optimization of tick surveillance protocols for Mashomack Nature Preserve, Shelter Island, NY


Lakshman Balaji, MPH, National Park Service employee experience with and risk of tick-borne disease


Ana Barsallo Cochez, MPH, Primary care provider knowledge and experiences in diagnosing and treating tick-borne disease


Caitlin Baumhart, MPH, Primary care provider knowledge and experiences in diagnosing and treating tick-borne disease


Mu Jin, MPH, Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Plymouth County Cooperative Extension stakeholders regarding tick-borne diseases


Linda Kalunga, MPH, Ecology of eastern equine encephalitis virus in coastal Virginia


Yiping Li, MPH, Literature review of tick control applied research


Aaron Malkowski, MPH, Review of tick-borne disease continuing medical education


Stephanie Morse Mattoon, MPH, Primary care provider knowledge and experiences in diagnosing and treating tick-borne disease


Purva Shah, MPH, Integrating tick density and park visitor behavior to assess risk of tick exposure in urban parks


Steven Shelley, MPH, National Park Service employee experience with and risk of tick-borne disease

New York State Department of Health

Postdoctoral Researchers
Postdoctoral Researchers

Constantin Dieme, PhD

Vector competence of An. quadrimaculatus and Ae. albopictus for Cache Valley virus and Jamestown Canyon virus


Alexander ‘Sasha’ Keyel, PhD, Research Associate, Wadsworth Center Arbovirus Laboratory, Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Disease

Creating policy-relevant forecasts for vector-borne diseases


Maria Onyango, PhD, Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

Effect of temperature variation on life history traits and microbiome profile of diverse populations of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus

Rutgers University

Postdoctoral Researchers
Postdoctoral Researchers

Francisco Ferreira, PhD

Surveys of ticks on mammals for surveillance of Haemaphysalis longicornis


Julia Gonzalez, PhD

Surveillance and phenology of Haemaphysalis longicornis

Doctoral Students
Doctoral Students

Matthew Bickerton, PhD, Biologist, Bergen County Department of Health, NJ

Acaricide effiacy assessments for control of Haemaphysalis longicornis


James Occi, PhD, Biologist, New Jersey Department of Health

Tick surveillance in New Jersey


Grayson Tung

Surveillance and phenology of Haemaphysalis longicornis