Folashade Agusto

Dr. Folashade B. Agusto is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on designing mathematical models to understand and mitigate emerging/re-emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola, avian influenza, malaria, and Lyme disease. She explores sustainable disease management strategies, human behavior effects on transmission, and host-pathogen evolutionary dynamics. Her work integrates ecological, epidemiological, and computational approaches.

Research Interests: Dr. Agusto's lab addresses three core questions: (1) Sustainable disease management strategies; (2) Behavioral impacts on disease spread; (3) Host-pathogen evolutionary implications. Recent projects include modeling prescribed fire effects on tick-borne diseases and analyzing mental health trends during the pandemic using network analysis.

Grant Activity: She leads projects like 'The Role of Phenology in Arthropod-Borne Disease Management,' funded by the Department of Defense ($125,313). Her lab also collaborates on interdisciplinary initiatives involving climate change, forest sustainability, and vector control.

Student Mentorship: Dr. Agusto advises graduate and undergraduate students on research projects, many of whom present at major conferences and co-author publications. She actively recruits motivated students from diverse backgrounds (biology, mathematics, engineering).

Labs/Teams: The Agusto Lab focuses on tick-borne diseases, fire ecology, and COVID-19 behavioral dynamics. Collaborations span institutions globally, including work on cross-border malaria control in Botswana/Zimbabwe and African outbreak response strategies.