About

Jonathan Oliver, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the School of Public Health. He is a public health entomologist specializing in vector-borne diseases, with research expertise primarily focused on the relationship between ticks and emerging tick-borne pathogens relevant to human health. His work involves understanding the interactions between pathogens, vectors, and vertebrate reservoirs, as well as environmental and microbiotic factors affecting vector range expansion and human exposure to diseases. He is engaged in developing transgenic or paratransgenic ticks incapable of transmitting human pathogens and discovering target proteins to limit pathogen establishment in vectors and transmission to humans. Dr. Oliver's research methods include active disease surveillance, molecular biology, proteomics and genomics, tick in vivo techniques, cell biology, microbiology, and microscopy. His research has been supported by NIH grants, and he has contributed to the scientific understanding of infectious diseases such as Lyme disease, Borrelia, Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia. In addition to his research, he has been involved in community education and outreach, including running a statewide Lyme disease surveillance program and producing extension publications related to tick-borne diseases.

Research topics

• Biology
• Ecology
• Animal science
• Microbiology
• Zoology
• Agronomy
• Toxicology
• Environmental planning
• Veterinary medicine
• Marketing
• Business
• Medicine
• Biotechnology
• Virology

Selected publications

• Epidemiology, Distribution and Identification of Ticks on Livestock in Pakistan

  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · 2022 · 40 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Veterinary medicine
  • Biology
  • Animal science

  : This study showed tick diversity, infestation rate, and numerous factors (season, age, and gender of host) influencing tick infestation rate in different breeds of cattle, sheep, goats, and buffalo in Punjab Province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, and Islamabad, Pakistan. Higher tick burdens and rates of tick-borne disease reduce production and productivity in animals. Understanding tick species' prevalence and distribution will help to develop informed control measures.

  DOI

• Growth Dynamics and Antibiotic Elimination of Symbiotic Rickettsia buchneri in the Tick Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae)

  Applied and Environmental Microbiology · 2020 · 72 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Virology

  ticks.

  DOI

• Plant-Derived Natural Compounds for Tick Pest Control in Livestock and Wildlife: Pragmatism or Utopia?

  Insects · 2020 · 72 citations

  • Biology
  • Biotechnology
  • Environmental planning

  Ticks and tick-borne diseases are a significant economic hindrance for livestock production and a menace to public health. The expansion of tick populations into new areas, the occurrence of acaricide resistance to synthetic chemical treatments, the potentially toxic contamination of food supplies, and the difficulty of applying chemical control in wild-animal populations have created greater interest in developing new tick control alternatives. Plant compounds represent a promising avenue for the discovery of such alternatives. Several plant extracts and secondary metabolites have repellent and acaricidal effects. However, very little is known about their mode of action, and their commercialization is faced with multiple hurdles, from the determination of an adequate formulation to field validation and public availability. Further, the applicability of these compounds to control ticks in wild-animal populations is restrained by inadequate delivery systems that cannot guarantee accurate dosage delivery at the right time to the target animal populations. More work, financial support, and collaboration with regulatory authorities, research groups, and private companies are needed to overcome these obstacles. Here, we review the advancements on known plant-derived natural compounds with acaricidal potential and discuss the road ahead toward the implementation of organic control in managing ticks and tick-borne diseases.

  DOI

Recent grants

• Dynamics of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection through tick development

  NIH · $418k · 2015–2018

Frequent coauthors

• Ulrike G. Munderloh

  24 shared

• Timothy J. Kurtti

  University of Minnesota

  17 shared

• Nicole Y. Burkhardt

  University of Minnesota

  13 shared

• Curtis M. Nelson

  University of Minnesota

  11 shared

• Geoffrey E. Lynn

  10 shared

• Roderick F. Felsheim

  8 shared

• Benedict Khoo

  University of Minnesota

  7 shared

• Ingrid Cornax

  Alto Neuroscience (United States)

  6 shared

Education

• PhD, Entomology

  Iowa State University

  2011

• BS, Anthropology

  University of Oregon

  1998

Similar researchers at University of Minnesota

• David Jacobsh-223
• Eamonn Maherh-172
• Robert Kruegerh-132
• Paul Robbinsh-126
• Matt McGueh-125