Welcome to the Bernhardt Lab
Utah State University Department of Biology
Utah State University’s Medical Entomology Lab
Let me introduce myself. “I am an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Utah State University. Prior to my work at USU, I was a post-doctoral fellow at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado. I received my Ph.D. from Colorado State University and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan with post-graduate work for the CDC in Atlanta, Georgia. I am invested in seeing graduate and undergraduate students in the lab succeed and contribute in the field of arthropod genetics and medical entomology. In my “spare time” you will find me busy with his wife and children, as well as enjoying time in the nearby mountains hiking, camping, mountain biking, and skiing. Please reach out if you have any questions!”
Arthropod vectors significantly impact human disease in the United States and throughout the world. The Bernhardt lab is a medical entomology lab that focuses on ways to reduce arthropod-borne infectious disease transmission to humans. My research uses an integrative approach to examine mechanisms within the arthropod vector to understand disease transmission, as well as insecticide resistance. Graduate and undergraduate students use field collections, molecular biology, animal models, epidemiology, and population genetics to address research hypotheses. We currently have experiments being conducted using mosquitoes, sand flies, fleas, and tick arthropod models. The end goal of the Bernhardt lab is to apply basic and applied research experimentation to address public health concerns.