My research focuses on how social animals overcome the problem of disease. Like humans, animal societies are at risk of epidemics due to a high density of hosts and the frequency interactions between them, both of which encourage and ease the spread of infections. Using ants and their fungal pathogens as a lab-based model, my aim is to understand how infectious diseases have shaped the evolution of animal societies and resulted in collective diseases defences.
Additional Affiliations
St Hugh's College
