The Arthropod-borne and Infectious Diseases Laboratory (AIDL) is a research center within the Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology Department. Since its inception, AIDL has been noted as a broadly based, interactive, multi-disciplinary research and training unit, interacting with other research units such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Vector-borne Infectious Diseases (CDC-DVBID) in Fort Collins and the USDA Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Laboratory (USDA-ABADRL) in Laramie, Wyoming. An underlying theme of the AIDL research program is to effect a union of field investigations with population genetic and genomic approaches to understand transmission, persistence, emergence, and control of vector-borne pathogens. Major emphases of AIDL have been the application of modern cutting edge technologies to define mechanisms of arbovirus interactions with vectors and vertebrate hosts, to determine the trafficking and emergence potential of arboviruses in nature, to develop rapid, clinically and field relevant diagnostic assays for vector-borne infectious diseases (VBID), and to determine the effects of genetic diversity of vectors, viruses, and hosts on vector-borne agent persistence and emergence.
The primary mission of AIDL is to:
- apply modern approaches to identify arthropod-borne virus interactions with vectors and vertebrate hosts that may lead to novel vector and disease control strategies
- develop rapid, clinically, and field relevant diagnostic assays for vector-borne diseases
- determine the trafficking and emergence potential of vector-borne and rodent borne viruses in nature
- determine the effects of genetic diversity of vectors, viruses, and hosts on vector-borne and rodent-borne virus persistence and emergence