Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology

The Foy lab is conducting a field study that will test a new method to control the transmission of West Nile Virus around Northern Colorado households. Interested in participating? Check out this flyer for more information.

As a member of the Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases (CVID) at Colorado State University, the Foy laboratory focuses on the interactions of vectors with their hosts and with vector pathogens. The goal is to link research employing molecular, proteomic and genomic techniques to practical applications for controlling arthropod-borne diseases. A main research component in the Foy lab is to interrupt the intense transmission of malaria and arboviruses by targeting the vector through their bloodmeals using drugs that attack vector physiology and that inhibit pathogen development or using anti-vector immunity driven by vaccination. The Foy lab is also developing mosquitoes and other vectors as biosurveillance tools, studying unique aspects of arbovirus transmission and arbovirus survival in vectors, and studying poorly understood mosquito pathogens for their prospects to become vector-borne disease control tools. The Foy lab is also a part of the Rockies and High Plains Vector-borne Diseases Center, a regional training and evaluation center funded by the CDC where Brian Foy serves as co-director.