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Peter Hudson
Study systems include
Rodents in Italy and the U.S.A.
Lagomorphs in Scotland
Grouse in the U.K. and Italy
Mongooses in Botswana
Salmonid fish in Finland
Helminths
Tuberculosis
Tick-borne diseases
Selected publications
Cattadori IM, Boag B & Hudson PJ (2008). Parasite co-infection and interaction as drivers of host heterogeneity. Int. J. Parasitol. 38: 371-380
Seivwright LJ, Redpath SM, Mougeot F, Leckie F, Hudson PJ (2005). Interactions between intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms in a cyclic species: testosterone increases parasite infection in red grouse. Proc. Roy. Soc. B 272: 2299:2304
Cattadori IM, Haydon DT & Hudson PJ (2005). Parasites and climate synchronize red grouse populations. Nature 433: 737-741
Boots M, Hudson PJ & Sasaki A (2004). Large shifts in pathogen virulence relate to host population structure. Science 303: 842-844
Lello J, Boag B, Fenton A, Stevenson IR & Hudson PJ (2004). Competition and mutualism among the gut helminths of a mamalian host. Nature 428: 840-844
Willaman Professor of Biology
Email: pjh18@psu.edu
Phone: (814) 865-0522
Office: 512 Mueller Lab, 201 Life Sciences Building
Research interests
I focus on the ecology of wildlife diseases, including zoonoses. My group uses a mixture of fieldwork, laboratory studies and mathematical modeling to explore disease dynamics in three main study areas.
Epidemiology and population dynamics
- How disease flows through wild animal populations
- Mechanisms that lead to disease persistence within populations
- The consequences of individual infections on host population dynamics. For instance, how the sub-lethal effects of infection destabilize host population dynamics by influencing the fecundity of individuals.
Heterogeneities
- Identifying variation in transmission between infected individuals — and the role of "superspreaders" in disease dynamics.
Parasite interactions
- How infection by one disease agent alters host susceptibility to other parasites and pathogens.
- The consequences of these interactions for host population dynamics.
Much of my work has implications for the control of wildlife diseases, and of emerging zoonotic disease.
