Andrew F. Read

Andrew F. Read is the Senior Vice President for Research and Evan Pugh University Professor of Biology and Entomology at Pennsylvania State University. He holds affiliations with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Department of Entomology. His research focuses on the ecology and evolutionary genetics of infectious diseases, particularly vaccine and drug resistance in pathogens like malaria and Marek’s disease. Read has been recognized with prestigious awards, including membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and The Royal Society.

Education: Ph.D., University of Oxford (1989); B.S., University of Otago (1984).

Research Interests: Investigates how pathogens evolve to evade control measures, including drug and vaccine resistance. Current projects include studying drug resistance in hospital pathogens, vaccine-driven virulence evolution in malaria, and ecological factors influencing infectious disease dynamics. His work integrates experimental and computational methods across disciplines like evolutionary biology, microbiology, and genomics.

Recent Contributions: His lab explores strategies to slow resistance evolution, such as adjunctive therapies and optimized drug regimens. Key findings include demonstrating how antibiotic use patterns influence resistance emergence and identifying mechanisms of pathogen transmission.

Awards and Honors:

• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2018)
• Penn State President’s Award (2018)
• Fellow, The Royal Society (2015)
• Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (2014)

Advising and Grants: Supervises a dynamic research group, including undergraduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Active in securing funding for studies on malaria, myxomatosis, and antibiotic resistance. Collaborates with institutions globally on projects spanning ecology, virology, and public health.

Labs and Teams: Leads the Read Lab at Penn State, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to infectious disease control. Collaborates with the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics and the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.