Parasites are organisms that live in or on other organisms and depend on them for nourishment. Parasites are incredibly diverse and abundant, and their interactions with their hosts can be extremely complex. This course provides a broad overview of major groups of internal eukaryotic parasites with particular emphasis on those parasites of importance to human health. Particular emphasis is placed on how these parasites interact with and affect each other and their hosts, including parasite evolution, virulence, and distribution, host immunity, and the consequences of parasite interactions.
Parasitology is a small upper level elective that combines lectures on major groups of parasites and their ecology with discussion of research on parasite ecology.