Professors Matt Gray and Deb Miller’s work in the Amphibian Disease Lab centers on preventing the spread of an amphibian pathogen, Bsal, to the United States. Bsal is currently spreading across Europe, and many fear that international pet trade will bring pathogen here. With the Appalachian region being a hotspot for salamander diversity, the Miller-Gray Lab is focused on prevention, detection, and transmission pathways for the pathogen.
With the recent discovery of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) in Europe, numerous studies are attempting to understand its pathogenicity, and hopefully, ward off infections in other locations. However, there is no standard set of methodologies for studying the pathogen.