2013 ASM Fellowship - C. Miguel Pinto

This year’s recipient of the ASM Fellowship in Mammalogy is C. Miguel Pinto of the American Museum of Natural History.   The ASM Fellowship is the highest award made to a graduate student member of the ASM. The fellowship is intended to recognize current accomplishments in mammalogy, service to the ASM, and the potential for a productive future role in mammalogy.

The recipient of the 2013 ASM Fellowship in Mammalogy is author of 15 papers, either published or in press, in journals such as the Journal of Parasitology, Emerging Infectious Diseases, and the Journal of Mammalogy. The recipient has been funded through an NSF doctoral dissertation improvement grant, the Smithsonian Institution, and the American Museum of Natural History. The recipient has presented work at 39 scientific meetings, five of which have been ASM meetings. The recipient is a life member of the ASM, has served on the Board of Directors, and currently serves on the Nomenclature and International Relations committees.

This year’s recipient submitted a research proposal entitled “Evolution of Bat Trypanosome Associations and the Origins of Chagas Disease”, through which he will work to understand the evolutionary origins of these pathogens, and the evolution of genetic adaptations of bats to trypanosome infections. His results will elucidate key elements of bat and trypanosome biology that will lead to synthetic understanding of the evolutionary relationships of host-parasite relationships between trypanosomes and bats, which have major implications for human health.