{"id":406,"date":"2025-10-21T20:37:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/?page_id=406"},"modified":"2025-10-21T20:40:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T03:40:38","slug":"katie-prager","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/people\/katie-prager\/","title":{"rendered":"Katie Prager"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='av-layout-grid-1'  class='av-layout-grid-container av-jgx60-b6646c0802ae4f62f17f83f881fd2082 entry-content-wrapper main_color av-flex-cells  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first   container_wrap sidebar_right'  >\n<div class='flex_cell av-f9au0-c8bc312b7259412b52c1d59e37e2f391 av-gridrow-cell av_one_half no_margin  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_cell_one_half  avia-builder-el-first '  ><div class='flex_cell_inner'>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-mh1feof9-9f81c7dbd8f49f46437ef82dc7a4cb79\">\n.avia-image-container.av-mh1feof9-9f81c7dbd8f49f46437ef82dc7a4cb79 img.avia_image{\nbox-shadow:none;\n}\n.avia-image-container.av-mh1feof9-9f81c7dbd8f49f46437ef82dc7a4cb79 .av-image-caption-overlay-center{\ncolor:#ffffff;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='avia-image-container av-mh1feof9-9f81c7dbd8f49f46437ef82dc7a4cb79 av-styling- avia-align-center  avia-builder-el-2  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '   itemprop=\"image\" itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\" ><div class=\"avia-image-container-inner\"><div class=\"avia-image-overlay-wrap\"><img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class='wp-image-400 avia-img-lazy-loading-not-400 avia_image ' src=\"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie-300x300.jpg\" alt='' title='Katie'  height=\"300\" width=\"300\"  itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie-80x80.jpg 80w, https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie-36x36.jpg 36w, https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie-180x180.jpg 180w, https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/318\/2025\/10\/Katie.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><div class='flex_cell av-77xe8-b6d88719863ec4354708798bea439cda av-gridrow-cell av_one_half no_margin  avia-builder-el-3  el_after_av_cell_one_half  avia-builder-el-last '  ><div class='flex_cell_inner'><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mh1fr8i2-4bd7215944a0d4404913a8436dac5f09 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p><strong>Title<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Research Associate (Associate Researcher I)<\/p>\n<p>UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology<\/p>\n<p><strong>Education<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>PhD, Ecology, University of California, Davis<\/p>\n<p>DVM, University of California, Davis<\/p>\n<p>BA, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University<\/p>\n<p><strong>Office<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>4000 Terasaki Life Sciences Building<\/p>\n<p>(310) 206-8203<\/p>\n<p><strong>Email<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>kcprager@ucla.edu<\/p>\n<p><strong>CV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/section>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id='after_grid_row_1'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-406'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'><section  class='av_textblock_section av-mh0ua3h2-dfe5df38cd3335fb6a426db9fd368e50 '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4>Research Interests<\/h4>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 9px;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;line-height: 18px;color: #333333\">I study the ecology of infectious disease in wildlife host populations, using a multidisciplinary approach based on skills and knowledge derived from my joint training in veterinary medicine and ecology. My research focuses on using, environmental, field, laboratory, and clinical data to assess patterns of exposure and infection in natural populations; evaluate pathogen emergence and persistence; understand climatic influences on pathogen dynamics; describe physiological and immunological response to disease; characterize infection in individual animals; determine predictors of survival; identify zoonotic pathogens of concern in wildlife and spillover risk to humans; and assess the safety and efficacy of capture and anesthetic techniques in wildlife. Working in Jamie Lloyd-Smith&rsquo;s lab I have had the opportunity to collaborate closely with other disease ecologists and mathematical modelers to connect my findings to the broader population ecology of host-pathogen interactions, offering essential insights into the biology of the system that are critical for accurate model design and parameterization. I also work closely with biologists, veterinarians, and policy makers from state, federal and non-profit organizations to disseminate our findings to the general public and inform animal and public health management decisions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin: 0px 0px 9px;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px;line-height: 18px;color: #333333\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\">Over the last decade, my focus has been understanding&nbsp;<\/span><em style=\"color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\">Leptospira<\/em><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\">&nbsp;dynamics in California sea lions and their broader ecosystem. This broader ecosystem includes potential marine-terrestrial linkages with terrestrial populations such as the Channel Island foxes and spotted skunks, as well as urban mammals of Los Angeles County. In October 2020 I joined a Tufts University led consortium &ndash; an international team of biologists, veterinarians, physicians, public health experts, epidemiologists, microbiologists, and policy makers from a range of universities and non-profits &ndash; and am working with this team on a USAID funded project&nbsp;<\/span><a style=\"color: #a6590f;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\" href=\"https:\/\/stopspillover.tufts.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">STOP Spillover<\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\">&nbsp;(see the&nbsp;<\/span><a style=\"color: #a6590f;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usaid.gov\/news-information\/press-releases\/sep-30-2020-usaid-announces-new-100-million-project-threats-emerging-infectious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">press release<\/a><span style=\"color: #333333;font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 13px\">). This project aims to identify and mitigate risk factors of spillover of emerging zoonotic viruses from animals to humans.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-mh1fso8m-5d86a6d3ad72038720d97ef6b48f513f '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><h4>Publications<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1733,"featured_media":0,"parent":334,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-406","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1733"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":407,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/406\/revisions\/407"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.lifesci.ucla.edu\/eeb-lloydsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}