Overview
The Murray Lab uses a One-Health approach to examine vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases, particularly those that affect children. We partner with medical, academic, policy, and public health institutions to reduce human disease burden and mortality in the U.S. and globally. We perform epidemiologic studies and collaborate with other labs and clinicians to develop and improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatments for infectious diseases.
Our Research
Our primary research topic areas are West Nile virus, Chagas disease, Dengue, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and causes of acute febrile illnesses broadly, from both known and unknown etiologies. We also study encephalitis from both autoimmune and infectious origins.
Within these infectious diseases, we examine the biology of disease-causing vectors; the prevalence of the pathogen within vectors, animals, and humans; virulence factors of the pathogen itself; how individual and social factors influence infection and disease severity; and how infected individuals are affected - both in the short and long-term. We take a bench-to-bedside approach to develop novel, targeted therapeutics to improve patient outcomes.
We employ a variety of techniques to study questions within each of these topics including (but not limited to): Next Generation Sequencing (RNA-Seq, single-cell sequencing, omics, etc.), statistical analysis of clinical data, spatial analyses, ecological and population surveillance in humans, animals, and vectors, interrogation of the immune response, and high throughput screening of therapeutic targets.