Primary investigator

Amy Vittor, MD, PhD
Amy Vittor, MD PHD, serves as an Associate Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine at the University of Florida and at the North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System. Dr. Vittor’s research explores the impacts of land use and deforestation on the epidemiology of vector-borne diseases. Her studies have linked deforestation to malaria in the Peruvian Amazon, detailed the epidemiology of emergent alphaviruses in Panama, and examined the relationship between dengue epidemiology and climate in Vietnam. Her team is investigating various agricultural practices and their effects on zoonotic infection risk among Floridian farmers, aiming to identify land use practices that promote health and sustainability. These research initiatives also contribute to her efforts in Planetary Health education for medical trainees, designed to empower future doctors with a Planetary Health toolkit.

Core team

Athena Chlapowski, BS
Athena Chlapowski has been a member of Vittor lab since 2023. She graduated from the University of Florida in May 2025 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Spanish. Athena is the lab manager and research coordinator for Vittor Lab, allowing her to work closely with Florida farmers. She is passionate about global health and preventative medicine, and is excited to begin medical school in Fall 2026.
Emma Formet, MPH
Caleb Stica, RN, PhD
Caleb Stica is a Postdoctoral Associate exploring the impact of agroforestry on zoonotic arbovirus transmission as part of the Florida Agroforestry project. Caleb has a background in field research investigating insecticide resistance mechanisms and mosquito control measures in Guinea and Tanzania. He completed his PhD exploring the evolutionary dynamics of dengue virus, its interactions with biological control methods, and the human immune response to zoonotic spill-over events.  Caleb also holds a Bachelor of Science in Biological Engineering and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, along with a Master's in Control of Infectious Diseases.
Ruiyu Pu, DVM, PhD
​Dr. Pu works at the Emerging Pathogens Institute, where he designs and optimizes virological and immunological assays for diagnostic and research use.

CO-investigators

Carla Mavian, MSc, PhD
Dr. Carla Mavian received her MSc from the University of Padua in Italy and PhD from the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain, after which she completed a Post-doctoral fellowship at the Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida. Dr. Mavian is an evolutionary virologist and infectious disease epidemiologist with over a decade of experience in genomic surveillance and the study of climate-amplified and zoonotic pathogens across global One Health systems. Bridging pathogens, people, animals, and environments, Dr. Mavian turn complex data into actionable strategies for resilient global health. Dr. Mavian serves as Associate Director of International Relations and Surveillance at the Emerging Pathogens Institute, Research Associate with the Smithsonian Institution Global Health Program Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology. She is also the Founder and CEO of OneClade, LLC. a consultancy firm that harnesses genomic intelligence, One Health analytics, and Bayesian models to track and predict pathogen emergence and spread, prevent outbreaks before they escalate, and prepare systems and communities for future threats.  She is now based in South Africa where she serves as Programme Director of One Health Research at the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Nathan Burkett-Cadena, PhD
Dr. Nathan D. Burkett-Cadena is Associate Professor of Entomology at the University of Florida, Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, FL. After receiving his PhD in Entomology from Auburn University, Dr. Burkett-Cadena was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of South Florida Department of Global Health from 2011-2013. His research interests focus on the ecology of vector-borne diseases including eastern equine encephalitis virus, Everglades virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, Chagas disease, epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus and river blindness. Dr. Burkett-Cadena has co-authored over 120 scientific articles related to medically important arthropods and the pathogens that they transmit. He is also author of the book Mosquitoes of the Southeastern United States (2013, University of Alabama Press). He lives with his wife, Marleny, and son, Daniel, in Vero Beach, Florida.
Kathryn Hanley, PhD​
Dr. Kathryn A. Hanley, Regents Professor of Biology at New Mexico State University, is a proud native of New Jersey. She graduated magna cum laude with a major in Biology from Amherst College and completed her PhD in Biology at the University of California, San Diego.
She conducted post-doctoral research at UC Davis, the University of Maryland and the National Institutes of Health, where she participated in the development of the NIH dengue virus vaccine. Since joining NMSU in 2004 she has investigated the ecology and molecular biology of arboviruses in the laboratory and the field. Her field studies have shed light on the risk of emergence of new virus strains across the tropics, and the potential for transmission of mosquito-borne viruses in the U.S.
Her laboratory studies have focused on identifying the factors that shape the evolution of flaviviruses and on developing new drugs to treat these viruses. She has been married to Tim Wright, also a Professor of Biology at NMSU, for more than 25 years and has two gorgeous kids, Nicholas and Madeleine.
Michaela Buenemann, PhD
Dr. Michaela Buenemann is Professor and Head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at New Mexico State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Oklahoma in 2007. Her research focuses on assessing the spatio-temporal dynamics of land system changes, including their human and environmental drivers and their impacts on species distributions, land potential, and public health. Her work is interdisciplinary, international, and collaborative, and her contributions primarily come in the fields of GIS, remote sensing, spatial modeling, landscape ecology, and biogeography. Dr. Buenemann teaches diverse courses in the areas of geographic information science and technology, geographic theory and research design, field methods, human-environment relationships, and physical geography.
Meir Cherniak, MD, PhD
Dr. Meir Cherniak is a second-year infectious disease fellow at the University of Florida. He earned his PhD in neuroscience. Dr. Cherniak is excited to spearhead the central nervous system (CNS) and encephalitis study with Vittor lab. 

student assistants

Catherine Smith
University of Florida Public Health, third year undergraduate
Devon Richardson
University of Florida Animal Science, fourth year undergraduate
Miguel Chavez-Salazar
University of Florida Agricultural Education & Communication graduate
​Jonathan Soleh
University of Florida Microbiology undergraduate

planetary health team

​Gautam Kalyatanda, MD
​Dr. Gautam S. Kalyatanda is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Medicine, specializing in infectious diseases, non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and tropical diseases. He earned his medical degree from the University of Mysore, India, completed his internal medicine residency at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Worcester, and his infectious disease fellowship at the University of Florida. Dr. Kalyatanda runs a clinic focused on tropical medicine and non-tuberculous mycobacteria. As a committed educator, he serves as the division education director and associate program director for the infectious disease fellowship, and has received multiple teaching awards. He is involved in global health, rural development, antimicrobial resistance in LMICs and post tuberculosis lung disease.

panama team

Jean Paul Carrera, PhD
Since 2008, I have focused on identifying the causes of undifferentiated febrile diseases, including detecting new viruses like Madariaga, Punta Toro, and Chikungunya during their first outbreaks. In 2011, I co-founded an epidemiological surveillance initiative in Darién, Panama, using a One-Health approach to detect emerging zoonotic viruses. Since 2016, I’ve collaborated with Latin American colleagues to explore the link between deforestation, agriculture, and arbovirus emergence. As an international advisor to the Pan American Health Organization, I’ve supported outbreak response and health system capacity building across Latin America. I also served as Director of Research at Columbus University, where I helped develop research infrastructure and co-created a diploma program on zoonotic diseases. As president of the Panamanian Society of Epidemiology and Mathematical Modeling, I foster collaboration and strengthen national public health capabilities.