How many animal species have humans driven to extinction?
PBRC researcher Rob Cowie was a co-author on a 2022 study published in the journal Biological Reviews that suggested as many as 150,000 to 260,000 of all known species could…
Stressed snails and slugs may spread rat lungworm through slime
Can humans become infected with the rat lungworm parasite from snail slime, if an infected snail or slug leaves slime on a lettuce leaf? That is the question University of…
Randi Rollins PhD Defense
Impact of environment, host microbiome, and stress on Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm) transmission Randi L. RollinsPhD CandidateZoology Graduate Program Ph.D. Defense Committee: Robert Cowie (chair), Anthony Amend, Rebecca Chong, Matthew…
New rat lungworm disease resource to help doctors with diagnosis, treatment
As climate change continues, human cases of rat lungworm disease are anticipated to become more widespread globally, especially in places where the parasite that causes the disease is not yet…
Rat lungworm transmitted by many more species than slugs, snails
While many people know that rat lungworm disease can be spread to humans by slugs and snails, new research shows those creatures are not the only ones that have been…
Paratenic hosts of Angiostrongylus cantonensis and their relation to human neuroangiostrongyliasis globally
The nematode parasite Angiostrongylus cantonensis (rat lungworm) has a complex life cycle involving rats (definitive hosts) and gastropods (intermediate hosts), as well as various paratenic hosts. Humans become infected and…
Accidental Host – The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease
"Accidental Host - The Story of Rat Lungworm Disease" is a 53-minute documentary about a silently-spreading foodborne parasite that invades human brains and now thrives in tropical areas of five…
Rat Lungworm Disease
Adult male and female (with red and white barber-pole spirals) rat lungworms in the pulmonary artery of a rat (Photo: Nicole Yoneishi, Medeiros lab). Randi Rollins, PhD student in Robert…
PBRC Graduate Student Randi Rollins Was Awarded The GSO Merit Based Award For Research (PhD) For 2019-2020
Randi Rollins was awarded the UH Graduate Student Organization (GSO) Merit Based Award for Research (PhD) for 2019-2020. Her dissertation focuses on the natural and zoonotic transmission of rat lungworm…
SOEST researchers predict distribution of rat lungworm, now and into future
A study led by Pacific Biosciences Research Center researchers revealed that Angiostrongylus cantonensis or rat lungworm is widespread in the Hawaiian Islands, and its distribution may expand, especially toward higher elevations as the climate warms. Rat…