Dr. Seifert is the PI of the Molecular Ecology of Zoonotic and Animal Pathogens (MEZAP) lab where she studies the factors contributing to viral emergence and cross species transmission. Dr. Seifert completed her doctoral dissertation research in the Dept. of Biology, Ecology and Evolution track at UPenn. Her postdoctoral training was completed at the NIH Laboratory of Virology where she worked on filoviruses and henipaviruses in bats both in the field and in the BSL4 laboratory. Dr. Seifert assisted in several outbreak response efforts at NIH including work in Congo during outbreaks of Ebola virus disease in 2017 and 2018 and in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research in the MEZAP lab at WSU incorporates methodologies from field-based ecology, population genetics, computational biology, and laboratory modeling to better understand and ultimately mitigate cross-species transmission of viruses at human-livestock-wildlife interfaces. My goal is for the research environment in the MEZAP lab to be interdisciplinary and inclusive so our work can be innovative, and impactful. Ongoing collaborations include research with the Viral Emergence Institute, the EEID-Palouse team, and the NIH Center for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases – eastern and central Africa.
Forecasting and Surveillance of Infectious Threats and Epidemics (ForeSITE)
An Insight Net Center for Integration