Principal Investigator
Joe Mihaljevic, PhD
Contact Info:
School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems
1295 S. Knoles Drive
PO Box 5693
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
Office: SICCS 213
Phone: (928) 523-5125
Email: joseph.mihaljevic@nau.edu
Postdoctoral Researchers
Molly Bechtel, PhD
Molly graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) with a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Animal Science. At UNR Molly published work on parasite abundance and diversity in woodrats which further piqued her interest in disease ecology and how it applies to wildlife ecology. For her PhD at Northern Arizona University, she studied tick-borne disease in desert tortoises and how ticks and disease interact with the Mojave desert tortoise. Currently, she is interested in answering complex questions about disease ecology, climate change and host phenology through lab experiments, field biology and modeling techniques. Want to learn more? Visit Molly’s website.
Kayode Oshinubi, PhD
Kayode obtained a PhD in infectious disease modeling using statistical and mathematical approaches from Université Grenoble Alpes in France in 2022, and he graduated with distinction from his master’s degree in applied mathematics. His research interests include biostatistics, infectious disease modeling, data modeling, mathematical modeling, epidemiological modeling, and disease ecology. Kayode is supporting the NIH-funded EpiMoRPH project in the Mihaljevic lab.
Professional Staff
Tyler Coles (Software Systems Engineer, Lead)
Tyler is leading our efforts at building software and web architectures for the NIH-funded EpiMoRPH and SSCIMA projects. Tyler also mentors several members of our lab in computer science, mathematics, and biology.
Carmenlita Chief, MPH (Program Coordinator, Senior)
Carmenlita is a full-time staff within the Center for Health Equity Research at NAU and is partially supporting our EpiMoRPH project. Carmenlita is leading efforts to organize and administer key stakeholder engagement activities, including our annual Predictive Modeling for Public Health forums.
Shelby Lamm, MS (Research Associate)
Shelby recently received her MS in Statistics at NAU. Shelby is working on the SSCIMA project to develop code and data resources for identifying which social determinants of health correlate with epidemiological patterns at fine spatial scales. This involves developing clustering methodologies and GIS tools.
Mehreen Malik, MPH (Research Assistant, PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Health)
Mehreen is a PhD Student in Interdisciplinary Health at NAU and is working with Carmenlita to organize and administer key stakeholder engagement activities, including our annual Predictive Modeling for Public Health forums.
Frank Burkhart (Research Technician)
Frank graduated with his B.S. in math from NAU and is now working as a research technician on the EpiMoRPH project before going to NCSU for graduate school. Frank’s primary roles within EpiMoRPH are researching movement dynamics in metapopulation disease models and assisting in software development.
Graduate Students
Kelsey Banister, MS (PhD student & Research Assistant)
Kelsey is a Research Technician and graduated with their MS in Informatics in December 2021. Kelsey also has a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology from Northern Arizona University. Excited by complex pathogen systems and emerging diseases, Kelsey’s current research interests are focused on Ranavirus genetics and genomics, pathogen detection across Arizona, disease modeling, and genetic epidemiology. Their previous laboratory experiences have involved studying mating systems and population genetics of various invertebrate species.
Email: kelsey.banister@nau.edu
Tanner Porter, MS (PhD Student)
Tanner is an PhD student in Informatics and Research Associate at TGen’s Pathogen & Microbiome Division. He has a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology and a Masters degree in Biology from Northern Arizona University. His previous research has focused on utilizing citizen science to characterize tick-borne diseases across the US. Tanner’s interests are in understanding temporal and spatial drivers of emerging pathogens through the use of molecular and disease modeling techniques.
Email: tporter@tgen.org
Undergraduate Students
Evan Landis
Evan is an undergraduate student currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Sciences at NAU. Evan is working on the Ranavirus project to identify how climate can affect disease transmission dynamics in tiger salamanders. Particularly, he is interested in understanding how climate change can impact the effects of disease. Evan works with us in the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute, and he is a member of the Interns-to-Scholars program at NAU.
Alumni
Saikanth Ratnavale, PhD
Saikanth has moved for another postdoc position at University of Notre Dame.
Email: saikanth.ratnavale@nau.edu
Kathryn Cooney
Kathryn graduated with an MS in Biology in December 2021. Congrats, Kathryn! Kathryn is currently working for the USGS in Flagstaff, AZ.
Email: kathryn.cooney@nau.edu
Zane Ondovcik
Zane was an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and Environmental Science (graduated December 2022). Zane is passionate about complex relationships within the natural world. In particular, he is interested in studying the effects of disease and pollution in conjunction with preserving natural systems. Zane’s Hooper Undergraduate Research Award project involved comparing methods to detect ranaviruses in natural waterbodies using eDNA.
Diego Olivo
Diego received his Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and Biology in May 2020. In 2019, Diego (along with Braden) earned the prestigious Urdea Collaborative Research Award to study the effects of temperature on viral shedding rates in the Ranavirus system. Diego is now a PhD student at Arizona State University, studying virology.
Monica Long
Monica received a Bachelors of Science in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Disability Studies in May 2020. Monica is now pursuing a Masters in Bioinformatics and Genomics at the University of Oregon!
Nicole Crews
Nicole received a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. Nicole is interested in pathogen genomics and disease transmission, and is currently working as a laboratory technician in a hospital in Arizona.
Braden Spencer
Braden is pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Civil-Environmental Engineering and is currently studying abroad in Chile! Braden is interested in modeling disease within amphibian populations, and how we can use these models, mathematics, and statistics to better understand disease spread through various species and climates. In 2019, Braden (along with Diego) received the prestigious Urdea Collaborative Research Award to study the effects of temperature on viral shedding rates in the Ranavirus system.