Disease Ecologist & One Health Expert for ENVHLTH-01

Summary
I am a disease ecologist with over 25 years of experience studying host–vector–pathogen interactions using integrated field, laboratory, and modeling approaches. My research focuses on how environmental change, climate, biodiversity, and human activities shape zoonotic and vector-borne disease risks. I lead a unique field-to-laboratory experimental system that manipulates entire wildlife–vector–pathogen communities, and I currently coordinate a One Health project examining livestock–human–wildlife interfaces and antimicrobial resistance in urbanizing environments. I aim to contribute empirical, ecosystem-based evidence and mechanistic insights to ENVHLTH-01 consortia addressing climate-related infectious disease burdens.

Description of the Team
We study the ecology and evolution of host–parasite–pathogen interactions . Key research highlights include:

• Biodiversity–disease dynamics: Demonstration of an extreme dilution effect in which increased rodent diversity led to extinction of a major blood pathogen (Kedem et al. 2014), alongside evidence that diversity can facilitate emergence of rare pathogens (Gavish et al. 2014).
• Environmental drivers: Evidence that rodent community structure is shaped by climate change and human activity (Halle et al. 2021).
• Pathogen diversity: Discovery of exceptionally high diversity and prevalence of Bartonella spp. in wild rodents, with ongoing experimental work on evolutionary origins and infection dynamics (Rodríguez-Pastor et al. 2023; 2024).
• Vector–endosymbiont interactions: Current studies on interactions between flea endosymbiont strains and rodent-associated fleas (e.g.,  Flatau et al. 2025).
• Human–livestock interfaces: A large-scale natural experiment in a Bedouin city examining how livestock rearing influences zoonotic disease risk and antimicrobial resistance.
• Methods for complex systems: Application of advanced statistical tools to disentangle ecological and epidemiological complexity  (Garrido et al. 2021).

Potential role in the project
My contribution will focus on empirical investigation of climate-related infectious disease burdens using a One Health framework. I will examine key mediators of climate effects on pathogen dynamics, including pathogen diversity, vector density and life cycles, endosymbiont composition, and host population structure. Through longitudinal and comparative studies across Israel’s dune ecosystems, we will assess climate impacts on pathogen dynamics from molecular to population scales. This work will elucidate mechanisms underlying pathogen transmission, virulence, and persistence, supporting disease modeling, risk assessment, and scenario projections relevant to ENVHLTH-01 objectives.