Pat Conrad considers parasites some of the most fascinating organisms on Earth, next to her sons. Involved with sea otter research since 1998, she directed the development of methods to detect, isolate, and unravel the life history of parasites that kill sea otters. Conrad is known worldwide for her work in babesiosis, a tick-transmitted parasitic disease that afflicts humans, rodents and dogs. For the past 15 years, Conrad, her collaborators and students have also been working on diseases caused by parasites that infect cattle, horses and marine mammals, and cause cysts in their tissues, mostly in the brain. She travels the world extensively, and has lived in Scotland and Africa, to which she returns often, even after facing down a charging rhino.

Professor of Parasitology
University of California Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine
Davis, California  95616

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine
UC Davis, PMI Faculty Profile