As New Hampshire’s climate and environment change, the State’s tick numbers, types and associated diseases are rapidly increasing.  This emergence poses new risks to the health of humans, pets and wildlife alike.“Ticks are an issue that touches nearly every community in the State,” notes Dr. David Needle.

Dr. Needle’s research has focused on the confluence of human, animal, and environmental health as effecting emerging diseases. His research seeks to characterize something new, whether a disease phenotype or new pathogen, with a goal of understanding how it fits into the larger picture. He is currently leading a multi-disciplinary team of researchers under the recently announced $8 million NSF-funded initiative EMBEDDEd-NH.

The project is a statewide research and workforce development investigation that brings together researchers, students, educators, and community partners University of New Hampshire, Keene State University, and Plymouth State University, and students, state agencies, and private industry to collaborate in learning how to better understand the ecology and evolution of ticks in New Hampshire.

Dr. David Needle is a UNH Clinical Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Science and a Veterinary Pathologist