Dr. Michail Kotsyfakis has been awarded a prestigious Research Grant from the 2025 Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) to investigate the eco-epidemiological dynamics of tick-borne pathogens, particularly the Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV). The awarded project will receive $1.5 million in funding over three years.

Ticks serve as significant vectors for human and animal diseases. With climate change altering ecosystems, tick populations are shifting, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere, with profound implications for disease outbreaks. Despite well-documented migration routes of birds, which play a crucial role in mechanical transporting of ticks across continents, many ecological and epidemiological questions remain. Why are certain tick species not consistently distributed along bird migration paths? How do interspecies interactions between native and invasive tick species impact disease transmission? What role does climate change play in these interactions?

Dr. Kotsyfakis and his team will answer these pressing questions by employing a multidisciplinary research approach which will integrate extensive field surveys combined with laboratory studies. Researchers will collect ticks at an intercontinental scale and emphasize on the genetic diversity of ticks of the genus Hyalomma, known vectors of CCHFV, to understand the ecological and evolutionary drives underlying their distribution patterns, including their hybridization potential. This large-scale study will also investigate the virome of these ticks to establish potential links between viral genetics and future outbreak patterns as a function of climatic and ecological parameters.