This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Biological Sciences program (CFDA 47.074) provides $236,162 to Clark University from January 2023 through December 2025. The funding will support collaborative research between Clark University and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil to understand how landscape changes impact zoonotic disease transmission risk in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.
Specifically, the grant will further the scientific understanding of the relationships between habitat loss, biodiversity loss, and changes to rodent-virus interaction networks on zoonotic spillover risk. The research aims to develop predictive tools for how land use changes, including forest restoration efforts, may influence complex disease transmission networks. It also seeks to evaluate how restoring forests can help reestablish functional diversity and ecosystem resilience to better regulate disease risk. Outcomes from this research are intended to inform policies guiding landscape management practices to concurrently conserve biodiversity and human health.