People, Parasites and Plagues Podcast
People, Parasites and Plagues is a podcast aimed at delivering information about the fascinating pathogens among us from the impressive professionals who study them.
Join our hosts Dr. David Peterson and Dr. Liliana Salvador, two infectious disease researchers from the University of Georgia, as we explore the past, present, and future of science.
Tune in every other week for a new and enlightening episode as we unpack the details surrounding some of Earth’s most perplexing diseases. Look for the People, Parasites and Plagues Podcast on your favorite Podcast service!
Category: Life Science
Tune in every other week for a new and enlightening episode as we unpack the details surrounding some of Earth’s most perplexing diseases. Look for the People, Parasites and Plagues Podcast on your favorite Podcast service! This podcast is supported by the University of Georgia through the Office of the Vice President for Research, and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
Episode 9: Devastating Diseases of Seeds
Dr. Ron Walcott
Episode Description: In this episode Dr. Ron Walcott joins us to talk about diseases affecting seeds, and the challenges, and opportunities, in directing graduate education at the University of Georgia.
Guest Bio:Dr. Walcott is a researcher in the Department of Plant Pathology, the Vice Provost for Graduate Education, and Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Georgia. His research interests include seed pathology, plant pathology, and bacteriology.
Links:
https://plantpath.caes.uga.edu/people/faculty/ronald-walcott.html
Special Mini Episode: “A Career in Science, with Dr. Jessica Kissinger”
Dr. Jessica Kissinger
Episode Description: In this bonus episode Dr. Jessica Kissinger reflects on her unconventional path to a successful and productive career in science.
Guest Bio:Dr. Jessica Kissinger is an evolutionary geneticist, and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Genetics and the Institute of Bioinformatics. She is also a faculty member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. Her research is focused on parasite genomics, the biology of genome evolution, and the development of computational tools for data mining.
Links:
https://www.genetics.uga.edu/directory/people/jessica-kissinger
Episode 7: Petabytes of Problematic Pathogens
Dr. Jessica Kissinger
Episode Description:In this episode Dr. Jessica Kissinger joins us to talk about how insights gained from analyzing parasite genomes can help us more effectively develop interventions against these dangerous pathogens in the future.
Guest Bio:Dr. Jessica Kissinger is an evolutionary geneticist, and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Genetics and the Institute of Bioinformatics. She is also a faculty member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. Her research is focused on parasite genomics, the biology of genome evolution, and the development of computational tools for data mining.
Links:
https://www.genetics.uga.edu/directory/people/jessica-kissinger
Episode 6: Genomic Detective Work
Dr. Nikki Shariat
Episode Description: In this episode Dr. Nikki Shariat joins us to talk about Salmonella, a potentially deadly foodborne pathogen, and how she tracks bacteria through the environment.
Guest Bio: Dr. Nikki Shariat is an assistant professor in the Department of Population Health at UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Her areas of research include molecular epidemiology of bacterial foodborne pathogens using metagenomics with a particular focus on Salmonella population dynamics in food animals and in the environment.
Links:
Episode 5: Brain eating amoeba
Dr. Dennis Kyle
Episode Description:In this episode Dr. Dennis Kyle joins us to talk about a deadly disease caused by Naegleria fowleri, also known as the brain-eating amoeba.
Guest Bio: Dr. Dennis Kyle is the Director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia, and a faculty member in the Departments of Infectious Diseases and Cellular Biology. His areas of research include drug discovery for malaria and the brain-eating amoeba, and understanding how parasites become resistant to drugs.
Links:
Dr. Kyles’s research: https://ctegd.uga.edu/about/directory/dennis-kyle
Jordan Smelski Foundation: https://jordansmelskifoundation.org/about
National Advocates for Ameba Awareness: http://www.amoeba-awareness.org
Episode 4: Malaria: Developing new drugs to fight an ancient foe
Dr. Belen Cassera
Episode Description: In this episode Dr. Belen Cassera joins us to discuss development of new drugs to treat and prevent malaria, one of the deadliest diseases afflicting humankind.
Guest Bio: Dr. Belen Cassera is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology here at UGA, and a member of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases. Her research focuses on discovery of new drugs to prevent and treat malaria, as well as understanding how these drugs work, and how parasites can sometimes become resistant to them
Links:
Episode 3: Media Coverage of Pandemics, Past and Present
Dr. Janice Hume
Episode Description: Today our guest is Dr. Janice Hume, a historical journalist who has studied the print media coverage of the 1918 flu pandemic, and who can offer insights into media coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Guest Bio: Dr. Janice Hume is a distinguished professor, researcher, author, and head of the department of Journalism of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Links:
Episode 2: Coronavirus in Poultry
Mark Jackwood Ph.D.
Episode Description: Today we will talk with Dr. Mark Jackwood, who has spent much of his career studying coronaviruses in poultry, and can offer us some insight into these pathogens, and the vaccines developed to counter them.
Guest Bio: Dr. Mark Jackwood is the J.R. Glisson Professor of Avian Medicine. He is the Head of the Department of Population Health at the College of Veterinary Medicine at UGA, and works in the Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center. His main area of research is avian medicine, specifically, avian coronaviruses. (As such he’s one of the few people in the world who has designed successful vaccines against a coronavirus.)
Links:
Episode 1: Influenza
Mark Tompkins Ph.D.
Episode Description: Today, Dr. Mark Tompkins joined us to discuss all things flu. We will talk about the 1918 flu pandemic, flu vaccines, and how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect this year’s flu season.
Guest Bio: Mark Tompkins Ph.D. is a professor and researcher at the University of Georgia Department of Infectious Disease. Dr. Tompkins received his Ph.D. in Immunology from Emory University. His research interest includes the immune response to flu virus infections, the development of novel vaccines and therapeutics for seasonal and pandemic flu, and Anti- Viral RNA interface.
Links: