Sandra Mendiola

Hi, my name is Sandra Mendiola. I grew up in Hemingford, Nebraska, and attended Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where I graduated with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

I first became interested in science after I spent the summer after high school graduation working as a lab technician for the Potato Certification Association of Nebraska (PCAN). As part of PCAN, I collected, identified, and screened potato psyllids for Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, the bacterium responsible for zebra chip disease in potatoes. Working at PCAN was a catalytic experience for me. Not only did it allow me to explore the world of laboratory science, but it also introduced me to one of my major research interests, the dynamics of vector-borne disease.

Throughout my time at Yale, I became increasingly interested in questions at the intersection of the ecology, epidemiology, and evolution of infectious disease. Although I was able to explore these interests both in the classroom and at the bench, my undergraduate education barely scratched the surface of what I wanted to know.

It was clear that the only way to answer the higher order research questions I was interested in was to pursue a PhD.

However, because I was intrigued by various disciplines, I felt I needed more time to reflect on my research interests before applying to graduate school. PREP@UGA was an ideal program for me to explore my interdisciplinary interest in infectious disease. During my time here, I hope to grow as an independent researcher and enhance my science communication skills in preparation for graduate study and for an eventual career in academic or government research.

At UGA I am working with Dr. David Stallknecht and Dr. Mark Ruder with the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study which is part of the Department of Population Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine. My project is focused on epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), an acute and often fatal viral illness in white tailed deer. EHD is vectored by biting midges of the genus Culicoides.

It is known that EHD infection leads to long-term viremia in deer, however, the amount of time viremic deer remain infectious to midges has yet to be characterized. My project seeks to elucidate temporal variation in host infectivity as measured by infection rates in Culicoides sonorensis, a major vector of EHD in North America. To do this, I will use both traditional virology and PCR techniques to isolate and titrate EHD virus from midges that were fed on experimentally infected deer over the course of viremia. Data obtained from this experiment will help determine the time frame during which midges are most likely to acquire EHD from infected deer and serve as potential vectors. This knowledge will further optimize disease models of EHD by accounting for differences in host infectiousness throughout viremia.

My name is Sandra Mendiola, and I’m a PREP@UGA scholar.