Ticks are unique blood-feeding parasites implicated in over 50 human and animal diseases worldwide. The goal of Dr. Isobel Ronai's research programme is to stop suffering from tick-associated diseases globally, through developing innovative control and prevention strategies for ticks. Dr. Ronai is currently a Life Sciences Research Foundation Fellow of HHMI, and a former American Australian Association Scholar, in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University.
Dr. Ronai is currently investigating the genetics and sexual biology of the key tick species associated with Lyme disease in the United States of America, the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis).
Previously, Dr. Ronai led research projects on the genetics and behaviour of ticks, supported by an Endeavour Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Columbia University (United States of America). She completed her award-winning Ph.D. at the University of Sydney (Australia).
To raise awareness about the global threat of tick-associated diseases, Dr. Ronai collaborates with key stakeholders, including government legislators and clinicians at Harvard Medical School. She also writes on this important topic; see Tick management programs could help stop Lyme disease, but US funding is inadequate.
