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.
Core Institutions
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
Professor, Department of Entomology, Cornell University
NEVBD Program Director
Agricultural Scientist, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
Deputy Director for Disease Control, NYS Department of Health
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology, Columbia University
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
Professor, Department of Entomology, Rutgers University
Director, Center for Vector Biology, Rutgers University
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
Director, Wadsworth Center Arbovirus Laboratory, NYS Department of Public Health
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
Director, Louis Calder Center, Fordham University
NEVBD Co-Principal Investigator
NEVBD Program Manager
Department of Entomology, Cornell University
Project Manager, Research Support Specialist
NEVBD Pesticide Resistance Monitoring Program
NEVBD Postdoctoral Researchers & Trainees
Columbia University
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
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
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
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
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
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
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, Research Technician, Harrington Lab, Cornell University
Ecology of Jamestown Canyon virus in New Hampshire
Phurchhoki Sherpa, MS, Scientific Program Director, Kern Mosquito Control District, CA
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
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
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
Francisco Ferreira, PhD
Surveys of ticks on mammals for surveillance of Haemaphysalis longicornis
Julia Gonzalez, PhD
Surveillance and phenology of Haemaphysalis longicornis
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
