Barbara S. Drolet is a Research Microbiologist with the Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit at the Center for Grain and Animal Health Research, Manhattan, KS, and an Adjunct Professor in two departments at Kansas State University. Her research includes developing arboviral immunodiagnostics, investigating the molecular interactions between arboviruses and their mammalian and/or insect hosts, and determining the effects of insect vector saliva on mammalian immune responses and arboviral pathogenesis. Arboviruses of interest include bluetongue, epizootic hemorrhagic disease, and vesicular stomatitis virus.
Christie Mayo is the head of the virology section at Colorado State University’s Diagnostic Medicine Center where she is actively involved in diagnostic test development. She received her DVM from the University of Georgia in 2006, completed a microbiology residency at CSU in 2008, and wrapped up her PhD and post-doctoral work at UC Davis in 2012. As the diagnostic virologist, she is uniquely positioned to support the interface of application and development in both conventional and novel (next-generation) diagnostic technologies. Currently, the main thrust of her research has led to characterizing the ecology and genetic diversity of an economically important arbovirus that affects livestock, the bluetongue virus. Additionally, her research has focused on developing novel diagnostics for the veterinary diagnostic community and utilizing next-generation sequencing to monitor and characterize infectious agents.
David Scott McVey is currently a Professor and the Director of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and is responsible for oversight of the research, teaching, and extension/outreach programs, including management of the Nebraska Veterinary Diagnostic Center (NVDC), the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine (PPVM), a joint DVM program with Iowa State University and, the Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center (GPVEC). He is also the Associate Dean for the Iowa/Nebraska Program for Veterinary Medicine. He was previously the Center Director for the USDA ARS Center for Grain and Animal Health Research in Manhattan, Kansas (2016 - 2020) and the Research Leader for the Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Unit (2011 - 2016). His research interests include comparative immunology of infectious diseases, vector transmission of arboviruses, and associated control measures.
