VIMS

Animal Health

  • Shellfish Pathology Laboratory
    Shellfish Pathology Laboratory   Staff member Carissa Gervasi and Fabiola Salcedo Moran, a visiting student from Ensenda, Mexico, conducting field work as part of the VIMS SPL Oyster Disease Monitoring Program. PI: R.B. Carnegie   Photo by R.B. Carnegie
  • Marine and Aquaculture Molecular Genetics
    Marine and Aquaculture Molecular Genetics   Cells of the harmful algal species, {em}Alexandrium monilatum{/em}, forming a chain. PI: K.S. Reece   Photo by W.M. Jones
  • Crustacean Diseases Laboratory
    Crustacean Diseases Laboratory   Current Aquatic Health student Pattie O’Leary, former post-doctoral research associate Tom Dolan and former staff member Shelley Katsuki are sorting crabs collected in seagrass beds. PI: J.D. Shields   Photo by H. Small
  • Histopathology Laboratory
    Histopathology Laboratory   Scanning Electron Microscope image of a two-cell chain of the dinoflagellate {em}Cochlodinium polykrikoides{/em}, one of several algal species associated with harmful algal blooms (HABs) in coastal waters of the Chesapeake Bay during the summer months. PI: W. Vogelbein   Photo by P. Mason
  • Evolutionary and Ecological Medicine Laboratory
    Evolutionary and Ecological Medicine Laboratory   Rainbow trout in Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHNV) shedding study. PI: A.R. Wargo   Photo by J. Scott
  • Shellfish Pathology Laboratory
    Shellfish Pathology Laboratory   Current Aquatic Health student Lydia Bienlien setting up RFTM assays for the detection of the parasite {em}Perkinsus marinus{/em} in oysters. PI: R.B. Carnegie   Photo by R.B. Carnegie
  • Marine and Aquaculture Molecular Genetics
    Marine and Aquaculture Molecular Genetics   High school students measuring oysters and participating in the research of Brendan Turley, a current Aquatic Health student focusing on the application of genetic tools to inform oyster restoration. PI: K.S. Reece   Photo by B. Turley
  • Crustacean Diseases Laboratory
    Crustacean Diseases Laboratory   Small crabs are collected from seagrass beds for laboratory experiments investigating the ecology of the parasite {em}Hematodinium perezi{/em}. PI: J.D. Shields   Photo by T. Dolan
  • Evolutionary and Ecological Medicine Laboratory
    Evolutionary and Ecological Medicine Laboratory   Rainbow trouts placed in individual aquarium as part of an Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus (IHNV) superinfection experiment. PI: A.R. Wargo   Photo by G. Kurath
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Faculty in the Animal Health area have unique, diverse, and complementary research expertise. Their research addresses the ecology, evolution, and pathobiology of infectious diseases associated with eukaryotic, prokaryotic and viral pathogens, as well as non-infectious diseases associated with pollutants and natural toxins from harmful algal species. Much of their research focuses on commercially important host species such as oysters, blue crabs and striped bass, but they also use model organisms to understand general disease processes in wildlife and humans. 

Primary Investigators

Dr. Ryan Carnegie: pathology and parasitology of molluscs like oysters and clams, with management of shellfish health in aquaculture and the wild a core focus.

Dr. Kimberly Reece: molecular ecology and genetic studies of aquaculture species, harmful algal blooms and aquatic pathogens.

Dr. Jeffrey Shields: epidemiology, etiology, ecology and pathology of diseases affecting crustaceans, in particular crabs and lobsters.

Dr. Wolfgang Vogelbein: pathobiology of pollution/disease associations in fishes, pathogenesis of heterotrophic dinoflagellates and epizootic of mycobacteriosis in striped bass.

Dr. Andrew Wargo: evolutionary and ecological approaches to improving disease management.