Jason Ladner

Jason Ladner serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Pathogen & Microbiome Institute (PMI) at Northern Arizona University, where he leads research at the intersection of pathogen genomics, viral evolution, and infectious disease epidemiology. His work leverages high-throughput sequencing and serological technologies to investigate Ebola, Zika, SARS-CoV-2, and other emerging pathogens, with emphasis on transmission dynamics and host immune responses.

His primary research focuses on developing and applying highly multiplexed serological platforms like PepSeq for antigen discovery, vaccine development, and virome-wide infection analysis. Key interests include genomic epidemiology of outbreaks, viral evolution in immunocompromised hosts, health disparities in infection rates, and the role of viral infections in autoimmune conditions like type 1 diabetes. His lab pioneers methods for longitudinal antibody profiling and pathogen detection across diverse biological systems.

Recent publications demonstrate his leadership in advancing genomic and serological tools for public health, including the PepSeq platform for multiplexed antigen discovery and PepSIRF for serological data analysis. His work spans from molecular virology to population-level epidemiology, with applications in precision outbreak response and vaccine design.

Dr. Ladner currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator on the NIH-funded project “High-resolution, virome-wide infection analysis in type 1 diabetes birth cohorts,” which employs longitudinal serology to investigate viral triggers of autoimmune diabetes. He mentors graduate students and postdoctoral researchers within NAU’s Pathogen & Microbiome Institute, where his laboratory develops cutting-edge genomic and serological methodologies for pathogen characterization.