Ebel Lab

Infections transmitted by arthropods such as mosquitoes and ticks represent some of the most difficult and persistent problems facing public health and medicine. The Ebel Lab, as part of the CSU Center for Vector-borne Infectious Diseases, is mainly interested in arthropod-borne viruses (arboviruses), such as West Nile, dengue, and Zika viruses. We exist to help find ways to make these types of infections less burdensome. Our research addresses several areas, including arbovirus population biology and evolution, mechanisms that permit mosquitoes to transmit arboviruses, mosquito immunity, and disease surveillance. Our currently funded projects focus on West Nile, dengue, Zika and chikungunya viruses, as well as the mosquitoes that transmit them. We are also involved in developing novel methods for detecting emerging viruses in resource-poor settings such as rural West Africa.

We take a multidisciplinary approach to science that combines classical virology, entomology, and molecular and computational biology. Central concepts that guide our work include the notion that arthropod-borne viruses, like other RNA viruses, form genetically complex populations within individual hosts, and that natural selection powerfully shapes which of these variants are most fit in a given environment. We are also active in local health initiatives that consist mainly of efforts to limit the impact of West Nile virus in Fort Collins and elsewhere on the great plains.

Statement on Inclusion and Anti-Racism

research project

Quasispecies dynamics in arbovirus persistence emergence and fitness

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research project

Predicting genetic determinants of Zika virus emergence

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research project

Emergence of tick-borne encephalitis in North America

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research project

Role of cell tropism for Zika virus pathogenesis and transmission

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research project

Engineering therapies that evolve to autonomously control epidemics

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Publications

Scanning barcodes: A way to explore viral populations.
Fitzmeyer EA, Gallichotte EN, Ebel GD.PLoS Pathog. 2023 Apr 20;19(4):e1011291. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011291. eCollection 2023 Apr.PMID: 37079527

Type I interferon shapes brain distribution and tropism of tick-borne flavivirus.
Chotiwan N, Rosendal E, Willekens SMA, Schexnaydre E, Nilsson E, Lindqvist R, Hahn M, Mihai IS, Morini F, Zhang J, Ebel GD, Carlson LA, Henriksson J, Ahlgren U, Marcellino D, Överby AK.Nat Commun. 2023 Apr 10;14(1):2007. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-37698-0.PMID: 37037810

Phylodynamics of deer tick virus in North America.
McMinn RJ, Langsjoen RM, Bombin A, Robich RM, Ojeda E, Normandin E, Goethert HK, Lubelczyk CB, Schneider E, Cosenza D, Meagher M, Prusinski MA, Sabeti PC, Smith RP, Telford SR 3rd, Piantadosi A, Ebel GD.Virus Evol. 2023 Jan 27;9(1):vead008. doi: 10.1093/ve/vead008. eCollection 2023.PMID: 36846826

The Incompetence of Mosquitoes-Can Zika Virus Be Adapted To Infect Culex tarsalis Cells?
Gallichotte EN, Samaras D, Murrieta RA, Sexton NR, Robison A, Young MC, Byas AD, Ebel GD, Rückert C.mSphere. 2023 Apr 20;8(2):e0001523. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00015-23. Epub 2023 Feb 16.PMID: 36794947

Genomic and phenotypic analyses suggest moderate fitness differences among Zika virus lineages.
Oliveira G, Vogels CBF, Zolfaghari A, Saraf S, Klitting R, Weger-Lucarelli J, P Leon K, Ontiveros CO, Agarwal R, Tsetsarkin KA, Harris E, Ebel GD, Wohl S, Grubaugh ND, Andersen KG.PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2023 Feb 8;17(2):e0011055. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0011055. eCollection 2023 Feb.PMID: 36753510

more publications

People

Greg Ebel, Sc.D.

Lab Principal Investigator [PI]
Director, Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases
Professor

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