This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship for FY 2009. The fellowship supports a research and training plan entitled "Understanding patterns of host-use and host-switching by the avian malaria parasites" for Ellen Martinsen. The host institution for this research is the National Zoological Park of the Smithsonian Institution and the sponsoring scientist is Robert Fleischer.
The ability for parasites to switch hosts has a profound impact on host-pathogen distributions seen in nature, and thus, patterns of infectious disease emergence. This research uses informatics tools to construct an online database for avian malaria parasites (genera Plasmodium, Haemoproteus, and Parahaemoproteus), a group of parasites that have led to the decline and extinction of numerous North American bird species. The primary uses of the database are to i) analyze the phylogenetic relationships among species of malaria, ii) determine their geographical distributions, and iii) identify cases of host-switching. Specific hypotheses regarding host-switching are being tested by comparing parasites found in non-native birds (both captive and wild-caught) to those found in native birds, which will help identify the evolutionary and ecological factors that allow host switching to occur.
Training objectives include the development of informatics and analytical tools. The final outcome of the research will be the above referenced online malaria dataset, as well as a website where information on molecular methods of parasite detection and identification can be disseminated to the public. As the project lies at the intersection of the fields of evolutionary biology, ornithology, veterinary medicine, disease pathology, and conservation biology, it will involve an interdisciplinary collaborative effort of researchers from these diverse fields in addressing the ecology of infectious disease.
