About the talk

Vector-borne pathogens, such as West Nile virus (WNV), significantly impact public and veterinary health as well as ecological processes. WNV circulates between Culex mosquitoes and wild birds, occasionally infecting humans and horses, where it can cause severe disease. Recent major outbreaks in Spain revealed the limitations of surveillance and emphasized the need for integrated monitoring of vectors and wildlife. Because WNV and avian malaria share similar transmission cycles, studying them together provides valuable insight into the ecology of vector-borne diseases. This thesis will use WNV, avian malaria parasites, and vectors and wild birds as a model system within a One Health framework to better understand their transmission dynamics.

About the speaker

I studied Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid. Then I completed a Master’s degree in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at Pablo de Olavide University. During the master’s program, I joined Jordi Figuerola’s lab at the EBD with a JAE-Intro grant. This January, I began my PhD, focused on the transmission of avian pathogens, under the supervision of Jordi Figuerola and Josué Martínez de la Puente.