Population Biology of Infectious Disease

Evolutionary genetics & molecular epidemiology
We study the ecology and evolution of virulence of naturally occurring parasites of monarch butterflies.

Recent publications:

• Jacobus C. de Roode, Andrew J. Yates & Sonia Altizer. 2008. “Virulence-transmission trade-offs and population divergence in virulence in a naturally occurring butterfly parasite”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 105: 7489-7494.
• Jacobus C. de Roode, Amy B. Pedersen, Mark D. Hunter & Sonia Altizer. 2008. “Host plant species affects virulence in monarch butterfly parasites”. Journal of Animal Ecology 77: 120-126.

Within-host dynamics
We study the within-host dynamics and within-host competition of malaria parasites using a combination of experiments and mathematical models. 

Recent publications:

• Rustom Antia, Andrew Yates & Jacobus C. de Roode. 2008. “The dynamics of acute malaria infections. I. Effect of the parasite’s red blood cell preference”. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B: Biological Sciences, in press.
• Jacobus C. de Roode, Riccardo Pansini, Sandra J. Cheesman, Michelle E.H. Helinski, Silvie Huijben, Andrew R. Wargo, Andrew. S. Bell, Brian H.K. Chan, David Walliker, & Andrew F. Read. 2005. “Virulence and competitive ability in genetically diverse malaria infections”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102: 7624-7628.