Parasite Research

Jory Brinkerhoff is a disease ecologist who studies parasites.

With support through a Fulbright Scholar Award, Brinkerhoff recently spent nearly a year in Japan collaborating with colleagues at Nihon University to study Bartonella, a disease-causing bacterial species. The bacteria is often transferred to humans via lice, fleas, and flies. His project assessed the risk to humans by analyzing Bartonella parasites found in Japanese macaques, a type of monkey.

“We know very little about how common this disease is in these monkeys, how it is transmitted, and if there is a risk to human health,” Brinkerhoff said. “Tourists can get quite close to these animals, so there are public health motivations for this project. There also are basic science questions about relationships among different bacterial species and groups in macaque parasites collected from different sites.”

Contact Sunni Brown (sbrown5@richmond.edu), director of media and public relations, to connect with Brinkerhoff.