معرفی
Jessica Stephenson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, housed within the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Her research focuses on disease ecology and evolutionary parasitology, particularly investigating how host social behavior and ecological conditions influence parasite transmission dynamics. She uses Trinidadian guppies and their gyrodactylid parasites as model systems to explore evolutionary interactions between hosts and parasites.
Her work examines factors such as host individual variation, microbiome effects, and environmental pressures that shape disease spread. Key themes include behavioral tolerance to infection, kin-based disease resistance strategies, and the evolutionary consequences of parasitism. Stephenson’s lab integrates experimental evolution, field observations, and molecular techniques to address questions at multiple biological scales—from individual host-parasite interactions to landscape-level epidemiology.
Publications highlight her exploration of sex-dependent parasite resistance, microbiome influences on host behavior, and the evolutionary implications of host social networks. Her research also extends to broader topics like pandemic virus evolution and comparative analyses of social distancing behaviors across species. Stephenson actively maintains a lab website detailing ongoing projects and collaborates on platforms like ResearchGate and Twitter.
