The range of ticks that pose a risk to human health in Illinois and the incidence of tick-borne disease has been rapidly increasing over the last decade. Yet research indicates the knowledge of medical professionals in the state about ticks and tick-borne disease has not kept pace with the rapid increase in risk. In this talk, Dr. Rebecca Smith presents work on surveillance for and prediction of ticks and their pathogens, as well as the results of a survey of medical professionals on their knowledge, attitudes, and practices around the topic.
Dr. Rebecca Smith, D.V.M., Ph.D., is an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology. She is also Health Innovation Professor at Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Her work at UIUC has focused on a cross-disciplinary approach to optimizing health globally called One Health, with her work emphasizing vector-borne diseases. She is the principal investigator in the Modeling for Disease Control Improvement Lab at UIUC. Dr. Smith received her both of her doctorate degrees from Cornell University, in veterinary medicine and epidemiology, respectively, and she earned her master’s degree in biosecurity and risk analysis from Kansas State University. She is a member of the Infection Genomics for One Health theme at the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology and has served on the SHIELD scientific advisory team and as a consultant for SHIELD Illinois and SHIELD T3.
