Meggan Craft, PhD

I am an infectious disease ecologist; the broad aim of my research program is to understand infectious disease dynamics in animal and human populations. I test hypotheses regarding disease spread and consequent control through parameterizing theoretical disease models with empirical data. I am interested in two fundamental areas: (i) How are pathogens maintained in multi-host ecosystems? (ii) How does heterogeneity in population contact structure affect pathogen dynamics? My research is inherently interdisciplinary as I work at the intersection of environmental, human, and animal health. Current research projects in the Craft lab focus on modeling swine viruses (e.g. influenza and FMD), "large cat" retroviruses (i.e., pumas and lions), moose metagenomics, bovine tuberculosis in cattle, raccoon rabies, and prairie dog plague.

• McKnight Land-Grant Professor, 2016-2018
• Institute on the Environment Resident Fellow
• Young Author of the Year Award (Elton Prize)—British Ecological Society, 2008
• Merit, Sigma Xi Graduate Student Poster Competition, 2007
• Honorable Mention, Sigma Xi Graduate Student Poster Competition, 2006
• Magna Cum Laude (top 10% of graduating class), Brown University, 1997
• Elected to Sigma Xi, Brown University,1997

• "Influenza disease dynamics in swine", Animal Health Formula Fund, UMN.
• "Domestic dogs as sentinels for anthrax exposure in the Queen Elizabeth Ecosystem, Uganda", Grant-in-Aid, UMN.
• “Aligning agricultural and conservation interests with respect to transboundary disease risk analysis”, CVM Population Systems Planning Grants, UMN.
• “Food security and infectious disease: seeking integrated solutions“ Mini Grant Program, Institute on the Environment, UMN.

For a listing of recent publications, refer to ResearchGate profile, PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine, and to Google Scholar.