 Christine Petersen, assistant professor of Veterinary Pathology, was previously at Harvard School of Public Health. She was awarded her DVM from Cornell University in 1998. While in veterinary school she spent a summer as a research scientist at the International Livestock research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, studying African Trypanosomiasis and was a paid consultant to the Division of Parasitic Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, establishing a treatment protocol for HIV patients co-infected with Trypanosoma cruzi. After a year of small animal practice she was offered a position at Harvard to pursue her PhD. Her research has focused on host-pathogen interactions of tropical zoonotic protozoal diseases. While at HSPH she worked as a post-doctoral fellow on the pathogenesis of Trypanosoma cruzi infection in heart muscle cells. Her current work at ISU continues investigation of host-pathogen interactions, specifically the interaction of host dendritic cells, important in establishing a productive immune response, with the parasite Leishmania amazonensis. She has been affiliated with the staff of CFSPH since 2004.
|
