Rocky Mountain spotted fever

We study the ecology, virulence and control of Rickettsia rickettsii. 
Our work includes two main approaches: an ecological study and a vaccine study.
The ecological study is focused on the understanding the bases of the disparities in fatality rates from Rocky Mountain spotted fever in the U.S. versus Central and South America. We use transmission models to assess whether these disparities are caused by different tick vectors or rickettsial genotypes.
For our vaccine study, we are assessing Rickettsia amblyommatis, a mostly avirulent species, could be used to protect against RMSF.

Acute undifferentiated febrile illnesses in vulnerable participants

Refugees, migrants and unhoused people are significantly more exposed to vector-borne diseases than the rest of the population. They also have important challenges when it comes to accessing health care.
We study the burden of vector-borne bacterial pathogens in vulnerable populations, with the long-term goal of improving their quality of care.

MALDI-TOF MS for the surveillance of vector-borne diseases

MALDI-TOF MS has been used for decades for the identification of large biomolecules.
More recently, it has been successfully applied to vector biology and has allowed the robust, affordable and swift identification of various arthropods from diverse families (ticks, fleas, lice, mosquitoes, cockroaches, bed bugs, sand flies, triatomines, and others). It has also been used to directly detect whether these arthropods are carrying zoonotic pathogens.
​The Laroche lab is equipped with a Bruker mass spectrometer, used to develop databases for the identification of major vectors and the detection of the pathogens they may carry.
PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU WOULD LIKE FOR US TO DEVELOP DATABASES THAT WILL SUPPORT YOUR SURVEILLANCE EFFORTS.