Speakers

Dr. Saravanan Thangamani is Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the SUNY Upstate Medical University. He is also the Director of SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases, and Vector Biocontainment Laboratories. He is an expert in vector-borne diseases, specifically tick-borne diseases caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, Powassan virus, and Heartland virus. His research attempts to: (1) understand the environmental factors contributing to the emergence and reemergence of tick-borne diseases in New York; (2) develop anti-tick vaccines; (3) develop novel transmission control methods, including the development of transmission blocking vaccines for tick-borne diseases; (5) vector determinants of Powassan virus transmission; (4) effect of co-infections on the clinical outcome of Lyme disease.