Mercedes Pascual

Mercedes Pascual is a Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies at New York University's College of Arts & Science, and an external faculty member at the Santa Fe Institute. Her research focuses on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, integrating mathematical models with statistical methods to study climate-driven disease dynamics, pathogen evolution, and ecological network structures. She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography (WHOI/MIT) and postdoctoral training at Princeton University.

• Education:
  • 1997: Postdoctoral, Princeton University
  • 1995: PhD, WHOI and MIT
  • 1989: M.Sc., New Mexico State University
  • 1985: Licenciatura, Universidad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales

Her work explores how environmental changes and pathogen diversity influence disease patterns, including malaria, dengue, and emerging arboviruses. She has pioneered analyses of climate drivers in vector-borne diseases and eco-evolutionary dynamics of hyper-diverse pathogens. Key contributions include studies on CRISPR immune diversification networks and the structure-stability relationship in ecological systems.

Notable awards include the Robert H. MacArthur Award (2014), AAAS Fellowship (2003), and membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2019). Her lab at NYU's Center for Genomics and Systems Biology collaborates globally on public health projects, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches to infectious disease challenges.