Audrey Arnal PhD
RESEARCHER IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION OF DISEASES
Since the beginning of my career, I am focusing on understanding the ecology and evolution of diseases through various empirical, experimental and conceptual approaches. My background is deeply rooted in interdisciplinarity, with recognized diplomas in Parasitology (MSc), Virology (University certificate), Medicine/Public Health (University certificate) and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (PhD), showing that I am able to produce relevant research in all these disciplines. To this extent, I have been at the forefront of multiple crucial discoveries on this topic.
Between 2014 and 2016, I have developed research on cancer ecology and evolution where I have initiated a deep reflexion on the evolutionary consequences of cancer in ecosystems through experimental approaches on Drosophila melanogaster. This study was the first to show experimentally that, as for the infectious diseases, hosts can accelerate their reproductive effort in response to cancer. These compensatory responses to overcome the fitness‐limiting effect of cancer could explain in part the persistence of inherited cancer‐causing mutant alleles in the wild. From 2017 to 2019, I have developed research on the ecology and evolution of Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. One of the difficulties in developing an effective vaccine lies in the high genetic variability of T. cruzi. Therefore, part of my postdoctoral work has shown a high level of sequence conservation of this protein in multiple T. cruzi strains, which makes the Tc24 protein be a potential vaccine target.
After three postdoctoral fellowships, I have been hired as a research associate at the Institute of Ecology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). This position demonstrates my scientific maturity and independence relatively to my collaborators. Finally, I have published in the leading journals of the discipline (e.g., Evolution, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Evolutionary Applications, Ecology and Evolution among others).