"Tick-Borne Illness Expert Panel"
This seminar is presented as part of the MU One Health Symposium at Mizzou, which runs from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on November 3, 2026.
Date: November 3, 2026, 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Location:
Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building, Atkins Family Seminar Room
1030 Hitt St, Columbia, Missouri, 65211
Lunch:
Starting at 11:30 a.m., be one of the first 50 attendees to check in, and you can claim a complementary lunch.
Register Here
Description
The community is invited to join an expert panel discussion about tick-borne disease, the impact it's having on Missourians, and the solutions Mizzou researchers are investigating. The University of Missouri has staked out a niche in this area, with efforts to more rapidly diagnose Rocky Mountain spotted fever, provide timely testing services to protect producers and the state’s livestock economy, and collaborate with communities affected by alpha-gal syndrome to better understand the condition. The panel is part of the MU One Health Symposium, which brings together interdisciplinary experts for cross-cutting panel discussions (also discussing influenza and antimicrobial resistance), and encourages collaboration among researchers through poster and podium competitions.
Panel Speakers
Molly Baker, MPH
Lead Zoonotic Disease Epidemiologist
Bureau of Communicable Disease Control and Prevention
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services
Adjunct Instructor
Mizzou College of Health Sciences
My primary interests are in zoonotic diseases and the human-animal interface. Because upwards of 75% of all emerging diseases are of zoonotic origin, human health can be significantly impacted. I am very passionate about this field and hope to be able to make a contribution to understanding and preventing these diseases, some of which we have yet to discover.
Benjamin Casterline, MD, PhD
Dermatologist and Immunologist
MU Health Care
Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Mizzou School of Medicine
Benjamin Casterline, MD, PhD, is a practicing dermatologist and immunologist as well as assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. In his clinical work, he is equally interested in addressing patients’ immediate skin concerns as well as the underlying mechanisms that predispose individuals to skin disease and influence their outcomes.
His research focuses on host-microbe interactions, immunologic mechanisms and alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), an emerging tick-borne condition. He collaborates closely with otolaryngologists, allergists, gastroenterologists and primary care physicians to advance both scientific understanding and patient care.
John Dodam, DVM, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery
Mizzou College of Veterinary Medicine
Director, Veterinary Health Center
Dr. Dodam serves as former chair and professor in the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery. Dodam joined the faculty in 1995 and has received numerous teaching honors awarded by the college and has excelled in both clinical and didactic teaching. He has also thrived as a mentor of research trainees, clinical house officers and has mentored many faculty members through the promotion and tenure process over his time at Mizzou.
Roman Ganta, PhD
Curators' Distinguished Professor
McKee Endowed Professor
Pathobiology and Integrative Biomedical Sciences
Mizzou College of Veterinary Medicine
Principal Investigator, Bond Life Sciences Center
The Ganta Lab studies tick-borne diseases, with a focus on human and animal ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). He continues his far-reaching goals of controlling the impact of these tick-borne diseases on the health of people, cattle, pets and various animals by developing preventative vaccines.
Samniqueka Joi-Weaver Halsey, PhD
Assistant Professor, School of Natural Resources
Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Dr. Halsey’s research stresses the importance of using long-term data sets, GIS, and remote sensing. She uses computational approaches to understand the mechanisms involved in the patterns we see in nature. Most of her work involves using modeling approaches to delineate how spatial and temporal changes in ecological interactions influence a focal species. She holds a particular interest in informing management actions with her models. As a computational ecologist, she takes integrative approaches to modeling complex systems while examining the consequences that management actions on biodiversity conservation and emerging disease systems play across a hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales.
Moderator
Monique Luisi, PhD
Associate Professor, Strategic Communication
Missouri School of Journalism
Dr. Luisi is committed to contributing knowledge that addresses the ways that individuals and groups communicate about health, disease, and disease prevention. Grounded in theories of communication and public health, her research focuses on developing and understanding how individual and group identities intersects with health-related attitudes and behaviors through interpersonal and mediated communication. Currently, she is involved in three areas of research: 1) communication about disease and prevention through new media, 2) improving health & science communication accessibility, and 3) communication about marginalized groups (e.g., race and sexuality) in entertainment media.
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Additional Panels at the One Health Symposium
Members of the public are welcomed to attend panel discussions earlier in the morning as well, if they wish. Please select the "General Admission" option during registration.
9:15 a.m. | Panel Discussion: Influenza
John Driver, PhD, Associate Professor, Animal Sciences, Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
Anthony Griffiths, PhD, Professor, Department of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Mizzou School of Medicine; Director, Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research
Wenjun Ma, PhD, Curators’ Distinguished Professor, Pathobiology & Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology
XiuFeng ‘Henry’ Wan, PhD, Professor, Molecular Microbiology & Immunology, Pathobiology & Integrative Biomedical Sciences, and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Moderator: Pamela Adkins, DVM, PhD, Interim Chair and Associate Professor, Veterinary Medicine & Surgery, Mizzou College of Veterinary Medicine
10:10 a.m. | Panel Discussion: Antimicrobial Resistance
Kendra Bourland, PharmD, MU Health Care Infectious Disease Pharmacist
Corinne Bromfield, DVM, Assistant Extension Professor and Education Director, Extension Animal Health & Production, Division of Animal Sciences, Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Chung-Ho Lin, PhD, Research Professor, Natural Resources, Mizzou College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources
Elizabeth Monsees, PhD, RN, Associate Professor, Pediatrics, UMKC School of Medicine; Senior Director, Infection Prevention & Stewardship Integration, Children's Mercy Research Institute
Moderator: Brian White, DO, Associate Professor of Medicine, Mizzou School of Medicine; Hospitalist and Infectious Disease Physician, MU Health Care
About the Discovery Series
The NextGen Precision Health Discovery Series provides learning opportunities for UM System faculty and staff across disciplines, the statewide community and our other partners to learn about the scope of precision health research and identify potential collaborative opportunities. The series consists of monthly lectures geared toward a broad multidisciplinary audience so all can participate and appreciate the spectrum of precision health efforts.
For questions about this event or any others in the Discovery Series, please reach out to the NextGen team.