The Kerr Lab

Current Work

https://wmpeople.wm.edu/index.php/site/page/arwargo/people

Postdoc Research

My general background is in the evolutionary ecology of pathogens, ranging from drug resistance, to virulence and transmission. Currently, I am interested in understanding the relationship between pathogen virulence and fitness. Whether pathogens evolve towards a benign or virulent coexistence with their host has long plagued the scientific community. I hope to shed light on this age old question by examining the in vivo fitness differences between low and high virulent strains of the endemic Pacific Northwest salmonid fish pathogen, infectious hematopoeitic necrosis virus (IHNV). I am also curious how both host and pathogen population structure might influence the evolution of virulence and will begin addressing this by using data from our IHNV in vivo experiments to inform population level mathematical models. The experimental work for this project is currently being conducted at the USGS Western Fisheries Research Center under the guidance of Dr. Gael Kurath in collaboration with Dr. Ben Kerr at the University of Washington and funded by an NSF EEID grant. When I'm not in the lab I'm usually out climbing or just enjoying the beautiful Northwest scenery.

wargo [snail] u [period] washington [period] edu -> mailto:wargo [snail] u [period] washington [period] edu