Science & Stories
Meghan May
Ph.D., M.S.
Professor of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
Department of Biomedical Sciences
Center of Excellence for Public Health
University of New England
Maine, USA
"The best science communication happens in the context of compelling stories. There is nearly always adventure in getting to the truth." - MM
Want to Talk? Ping me on Twitter @DrMay5
Media Appearances
It has been my privilege to share aspects of science on various media platforms, including live talks, television, podcasts, print, and digital. Visit the Media tab to check some of them out!
Research
My research focus is on the evolution of virulence, not only to determine how new diseases appear and where they come from but also how to predict what new disease might arise next — pathogen forecasting. Current research projects include measuring evolutionary dynamics to identify pathogenic determinants and/or clinical targets of emerging viruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, Zika virus, and Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus); using the microbial parasite, Mycoplasma synoviae, as a model system to study mechanisms of pathogen attachment to host cells acting as an evolutionary driver of diversity; the dynamics of infectious disease emergence by studying Mycoplasma gallisepticum; the characterization of novel bacterial or viral clinical isolates; and immune dysregulation caused by antipsychotic drugs leading to increased susceptibility to infection.
Check out the Publications tab for links to authored research articles and a list of authored textbook chapters!
The evolution of binding and detachment are linked for some mycoplasmas (Click here to watch my seminar for more details!)
The binding motif of a Zika virus strain from Puerto Rico (green) stuck to cells (blue) (from Rieder et al. 2019)
The antipsychotic drug risperidone significantly impacts (shown as red intensity) several infection response pathways (from May et al. 2019)
