Karsten Hueffer

Karsten Hueffer is Professor of Virology in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), where he also serves as Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Since 2006 he has held faculty appointments at UAF’s Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife, and since 2013 he has been Associate Director of the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Activities Office (URSA). His work integrates infectious-disease research with undergraduate education and Arctic community engagement.

Education

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine equivalent, School of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover (1993–1999, 3rd of 238)
• Ph.D. in Comparative Biomedical Science, Cornell University (1999–2003)

Research Interests

Hueffer’s laboratory investigates viral and bacterial zoonoses—especially rabies and tularemia—in Arctic wildlife and human communities. Projects include molecular evolution of rabies virus in Alaskan Arctic foxes, climate-driven changes in disease dynamics, Francisella tularensis host–pathogen interactions, and parvovirus host-range evolution. His group employs field surveillance, laboratory infection models, next-generation sequencing, and ecological modeling to understand how environmental change reshapes infectious-disease landscapes.

Scientific Awards & Fellowships

• H. Wilhelm Schaumann Foundation Prize for best academic results (1996)
• Graduate Research Assistantship, Cornell University (1999–2001)
• Stockler Fellowship, Cornell Graduate School (2001–2002)
• Award for Scholarship in Basic Science, Phi Zeta Honor Society (2003)
• Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation Fellow (2004–2006)
• National Academies Education Fellow in the Life Sciences (2008–2009)
• Outstanding Teacher, Department of Biology & Wildlife, UAF (2010)

Advising, Grants & Institutional Service

Hueffer chairs the Curriculum Committee of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, directs multiple faculty search committees, and sits on the Internal Biosafety Committee (IBC) at UAF. He has served as President of the International Conference on Diseases in Nature Communicable to Man and President of the Alaska Branch of the American Society for Microbiology. His funding sources include NSF, NIH INBRE, and state wildlife agencies, and he mentors numerous undergraduate and graduate researchers through URSA.

Laboratory & Field Teams

Work is carried out in the Hueffer Virology Laboratory within UAF’s BSL-2/ABSL-2 facilities and at field sites across rural Alaska. Collaborations span the Institute of Arctic Biology, Alaska State Public Health Laboratory, and the Arctic Fox Monitoring Program.