The Team
Meet the team of scientists working towards our mission to understand more about viral diversity and zoonotic emergence.
Simon J Anthony, D.Phil.
Simon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. His research focuses on critical questions surrounding viruses in wildlife and their potential for zoonotic spillover. His work, currently supported by the NIH, USGS, NSF, and USDA, aims to identify what viruses circulate in wildlife, particularly in high-risk hosts like bats, and evaluate their hazards to humans and other animals. Together with his team, he probes the ecological and evolutionary mechanisms that underpin viral diversity, illuminating key risk factors and evolutionary pathways for zoonotic emergence. Simon did his doctoral training at Oxford University and the Pirbright Institute in the UK, before heading to the States for post-doctoral training at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (wildlife disease) and Columbia University (viral discovery). When not in the lab or the field, Simon can be found exploring California wineries or sympathizing with Sisyphus as he throws the ball, yet again, for his obsessed English Setter.
Email: sjanthony@ucdavis.edu
Isamara Navarrete-Macias, Ph.D
Isamara is responsible for supervising the maintenance, biosafety, and regulatory compliance of the Anthony Lab. Holding a Ph.D in viral ecology from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Surrey (UK) her expertise centers on wildlife diseases and pathogen discovery, with a specialization in high-containment (BLS3) work. Isa develops training materials for the use of PPE in different risk settings, including both the lab and the field, and conducts training in viral discovery techniques at home and abroad.
Email: inavarretemacias@ucdavis.edu
Heather L Wells, MPH, Ph.D
Heather is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Anthony Lab utilizing her background in mathematics and computer programming to study evolutionary mechanisms associated with the spillover of viruses from wildlife. Her current research aims to develop an evolutionary framework for understanding the mechanism of recombination in coronaviruses by comparing patterns of natural and experimental recombination. Lately, she's been spending her days developing computational algorithms for identifying and analyzing recombination in experimental data and designing mathematical models for understanding how these patterns do (or do not) support specific evolutionary hypotheses. When she’s not deep in the weeds of viral evolution, she loves spending time with the weeds in her actual garden, hiking, knitting, antiquing, and extensively spoiling her orange cats.
Email: hlwells@ucdavis.edu
Cassandra Bonavita, Ph.D
Cassie is a Postdoctoral Fellow interested in emerging RNA viruses and the factors that influence viral pathogenesis and persistence. Cassie is a classically trained virologist, who dabbles in comparative genomics and viral evolution and will contemplate viral ecology if the project includes field work to interesting places. Talking of which, Cassie is a member of the Anthony lab field team and was most recently in Puerto Rico sampling cave bats while simultaneously trying to avoid cave snakes! Back in the lab, Cassie is currently focused on elucidating the genetic patterns and drivers of coronavirus recombination in vitro. Beyond her research, Cassie is a regular mentor to undergraduate and graduate students in the lab and is an occasional instructor as part of the UC Davis Graduate Group in Integrative Pathobiology. Outside of the lab, Cassie can be found watching sports or doing outdoor activities with her partner and two Labrador Retrievers.
Email: cmbonavita@ucdavis.edu
Caleb Huntington, Ph.D Candidate
Caleb was forever doomed to pursue a career in the sciences as he was brought up in Alaska by a wildlife veterinary pathologist and an arctic climate scientist. Stubbornly, he has been making his way southward in a vain attempt to break from the mold, going so far as to spend his graduate school years sweating in Puerto Rican hot caves. Currently, his academic interests include viral ecology, spillover, and environmental sampling; specifically, around bats! Outside of the lab and field, he has a wide range of outdoor hobbies chosen to terrify his mother, including rock climbing, mountaineering, surfing, scuba diving, and skiing.
Email: chunting@ucdavis.edu
Blake Vichez, M.S. Candidate
Blake is a Ph.D candidate in the Integrative Pathobiology Graduate Group (GGIP). He was born in Peru but moved to Texas at a young age. He completed his undergraduate degree in New Mexico and an internship in Georgia, and he is now excited to be at UC Davis and enjoy all California has to offer. Blake’s research focuses on coronaviruses, where he studies how protein interactions can induce functional constraints on virus evolution. Outside the lab, Blake enjoys good coffee, good food, enjoying nature, and being involved in his local community.
Email: bvilchez@ucdavis.edu
Jay Tiemann, B.S. Field and Lab Technician
Jay is an undergraduate researcher in the Anthony Lab, and a member of both the lab and field teams. Jay has always had a dream to be a scientist, having been raised loving science and everything that has to do with the natural world. As a first-generation college student, finding his way in school and career has been challenging, until he found the Anthony Lab. He has plans of pursuing a graduate level degree in virology. In the lab, Jay is currently learning cell-culture and molecular virology techniques. In the field, jay is learning how to capture and sample bats! When he is not in the lab, Jay has a fondness for sports and his cats.
Email: jdtiemann@ucdavis.edu