Peter Hudson

Peter Hudson is the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Biology at Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the Eberly College of Science. His research focuses on disease dynamics in wildlife systems, particularly exploring epidemiology, pathogen interactions, and zoonotic disease control. Former Director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, he leads projects addressing ecological and evolutionary drivers of infectious diseases. Notable contributions include studies on Hendra virus in bats, SARS-CoV-2 in deer, and wolf population dynamics linked to canine distemper outbreaks. His work integrates field studies with mathematical modeling, emphasizing landscape immunity and conservation strategies to mitigate pandemics.

Hudson's research has been supported through grants including a $4.5M USDA initiative to study SARS-CoV-2 in wildlife. He collaborates internationally on bat-borne zoonoses and has published extensively in high-impact journals like Science, Nature, and PNAS. His interdisciplinary approach bridges ecology, epidemiology, and policy to address global health challenges.

• Key affiliations: Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, Penn State's Institute for Energy and the Environment
• Expertise: Wildlife epidemiology, disease ecology, conservation medicine

Recent work highlights include identifying weather patterns influencing Nipah virus risk in Bangladesh and demonstrating how disease outbreaks drive evolutionary changes in wolf coat color and mating behavior. He advocates for ecologically based biosecurity measures to prevent future pandemics through landscape restoration and biodiversity conservation.