Brian Byrd

Biography

Dr. Brian Byrd is a Professor in the Environmental Health Sciences program, College of Health and Human Sciences, Western Carolina University. He received a Bachelor’s degree (Biology) from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, a Master’s of Science in Public Health Parasitology, and his Doctorate (PhD) from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his studies at Tulane he was a pre‐doctoral fellow in a CDC funded training program in vector‐borne infectious diseases.<br><br>Currently, Dr. Byrd teaches courses such as Principles of Epidemiology, Medical Entomology, First Year Studies: Virus Hunters (Learning Community), and Global Health. His research focuses on domestic mosquito‐borne diseases, specifically La Crosse encephalitis, the ecology of invasive mosquitoes and ticks, and the molecular identification of arthropod vectors. He also maintains an active undergraduate research program where his students have been nationally recognized. He has authored or co‐authored peer reviewed manuscripts in discipline related journals and is an active member of a number of professional organizations including the Society for Vector Ecology and the American Mosquito Control Association. He serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association. Dr. Byrd is also a member of the American College of Epidemiology.

Education

• Ph D, Tulane University
• MSPH, Tulane University
• BA, University of North Carolina at Asheville

Teaching Interests

Medical Entomology<br><br>Epidemiology<br><br>First Year Seminar: Virus Hunters Learning Community<br><br>Global Health

Research Interests

Include the ecology and epidemiology of domestic vector-borne infectious diseases, invasive mosquito and tick species, and the utility of molecular markers for discriminating closely related or cryptic mosquito species<br><br>Dr. Byrd's Publications:<br>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/brian.byrd.1/bibliography/public/