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Our Team

Kumari Andarawewa

DVM, MSS, PhD, DACLAM

Christine Curran

Meera Gatlin

DVM, MPH, DACVPM

Tracey Glover

Allen Rutberg

Marvin Schulte

Virginia Shugrue

Christopher Whittier

Graduate Faculty and Mentors

Kumari Andarawewa

DVM, MSS, PhD, DACLAM

Associate Clinical Professor & Director of the Division of Animal Resources

Department of Comparative Pathobiology

Daniela Bedenice

Dr.med.vet., DACVIM (LAIM), DACVECC

Professor & Marilyn M. Simpson Professor in Equine Medicine

Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Comparative respiratory physiology and non-invasive pulmonary function testing (equine, canine, camelid). Large animal neonatal and adult critical care. Emerging infectious diseases in camelids.

Yi-Pin Lin

Associate Professor

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

Microbiological, Ecological, and evolutionary drivers of vector-host-pathogen interactions; Molecular mechanisms of vector-borne pathogen transmission by wildlife reservoir animals; Vaccine and Prophylaxis development against Lyme disease and other vector-borne diseases.

Cheryl London

D.V.M., Ph.D., DACVIM (Oncology)

Associate Dean for Research, Anne Engen and Dusty Professor in Comparative Oncology

Dean's Office - Cummings-Vet

Megan Mueller

Associate Professor

Department of Comparative Pathobiology

Human-animal interaction (HAI); Positive youth development; Human-animal interaction and public policy

Kelly A. Metcalf Pate

Associate Professor of Biological Engineering Director, Division of Comparative Medicine (MIT)

Carlos Pinto

MedVet, PhD, Diplomate A.C.T

Chair of Large Animal Clinical Sciences; Dorrance H. Hamilton Professor in Applied Reproductive Medicine; Director, Tufts Veterinary Field Service

Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Marieke Rosenbaum

D.V.M., M.P.H., M.S.

Assistant Professor

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

Urban agriculture and animal production; Tuberculosis in nonhuman primates; The Peruvian wildlife trade; Infectious diseases in urban rodents.

Jonathan Runstadler

M.S., D.V.M., Ph.D.

Chair of Infectious Disease and Global Health & Agnes Varis University Professor in Science and Society

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

Virology, emerging infectious diseases, and disease ecology; comparative genetics, immunogenetics, and genetic mechanisms of infectious disease and health; comparative medicine, evolution of immune function, and host/pathogen interaction; veterinary and human public health; veterinary immunology and virology; genetic diversity

Allen Rutberg

Associate Research Professor & Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

Deer and wild horse immunocontraception; suburban deer controversies and population management; wild horse management; ungulate social organization

Marvin Schulte

Professor & Associate Dean for Graduate Education

Department of Comparative Pathobiology

1) Development of sub-type selective modulators of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The primary goal is to develop and characterize nAChR allosteric modulators as lead molecules for the treatment of diseases involving alterations in nicotinic tone in the CNS. 2) Development of alpha9/alpha10 nicotinic receptor modulators for hearing disorders. This project will develop novel allosteric modulators targeting the unique nicotinic receptor subunit found in the inner ear that is involved in distinguishing sounds such as language from background noise. Signaling in this pathway declines in age, producing a common age-related hearing disorder. This is also a common deficit caused by noise related hearing loss, often called "hidden hearing loss". Enhancement of this pathway by allosteric modulation may permit improved hearing in patients experiencing this disorder. The project aims to understand the structure/function relationships of this receptors unique pharmacology to develop new ligands that selectively target this receptor. The project builds on our prior experience with developing nicotinic modulators. 3) Interaction of viral proteins within the CNS. This project investigates the interaction of viral recognition proteins within the CNS. The model virus for this type of interaction is the Rabies virus; however, there is evidence that other viruses, including influenza, Herpes, COVID-19 and measles, may interact with CNS receptor proteins.

Charles Shoemaker

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

My overall scientific goal is to continue contributing research outcomes that lead to improved prevention and therapy of animal and human diseases. Since 2004 at Tufts, my lab has primarily performed research to develop therapeutic agents that prevent or reverse intoxication from bacterial toxins. This work initiated with a focus on botulinum neurotoxin but has expanded to Shiga toxins, C. difficile toxins, anthrax and ricin. We are also developing VHH-based therapeutics to treat enteric pathogens such as Shigella, Cryptosporidia and Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC). In related work, we are developing immunotheraputics for prevention or treatment of the developing world disease, schistosomiasis. Our major current collaborations are with other Tufts laboratories and laboratories at U. Cal. Irvine (UCI), NY University (NYU), Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, UMass, Northeastern U., Harvard U., Wadsworth Institute, and HDT Bio. Much of our research involves the lab's expertise in the preparation and engineering of immunotherapeutics composed of camelid single-domain antibody binding agents called VHHs or nanobodies. We have leveraged this expertise to attract numerous funded collaborations in which we assist other labs or companies in the production and engineering of these binding agents for their projects. Prior to joining Tufts and since 1987, most research under my direction applied molecular biology tools to the study of host interactions with helminth parasites, and this work continues to a lesser extent.

Patrick Skelly

Professor and Associate Chair, Infectious Disease and Global Health

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

parasitology; molecular and cellular helminthology; vaccine development; identification of new anthelminthics; Infectious diseases: prevention and control

Sam Telford III

Professor & Director of NERBL

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

Ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne infections, particularly those transmitted by ticks; vector-pathogen interactions; wildlife parasitology; biosafety and biodefense; public health interventions; arbovirology; tropical medicine and diagnostic parasitology

Giovanni Widmer

Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health

• Molecular biology of protozoan parasites • Analysis of complex microbial population using 16S amplicon sequencing • Interaction between the intestinal microbiota and enteric pathogens • RNA-Seq transcriptomics analysis of host-pathogen interaction • Epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis

Contact Us

Graduate Department of Comparative Health Sciences
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA 01536