Listen now to Infectious Science to empower yourself with knowledge about health.
The Infectious Science Podcast

Our goal is to contribute to a world where the public is empowered with knowledge and understanding about emerging diseases, and where the One Health approach is embraced as a fundamental tool in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Through our podcast, we aim to inspire curiosity, educate, and connect individuals from diverse backgrounds: researchers, educators, clinicians, students, and the general public - to collectively work towards a safer and healthier future. We envision a global community that prioritizes the importance of public health, fostering collaboration, innovation, and critical thinking. By staying at the forefront of infectious disease research and sharing compelling stories, we hope to broaden society's approach to health, ultimately mitigating the impact of emerging diseases and paving the way for a resilient and thriving world. Together, let's unlock the power of knowledge and make infectious science accessible to all.

Recent Episodes

Oct. 4, 2024

Bitten by Myth: Unraveling Rabies and the Werewolf Tale

Send us a text Happy Halloween from the Infectious Science Podcast team! Join us as we dive into the parallels between medical and folkloric narratives. In this episode we explore how rabies inspired the werewolf myth. We di…
Sept. 6, 2024

Antibiotics, Antivirals, and the Fungus Among Us

Send us a text Antibiotics, antivirals, and antifungals have revolutionized modern medicine, saving countless lives and transforming our approach to infectious diseases. In this episode of our podcast, we delve into the diff…
Aug. 16, 2024

Decoding Leprosy Part II: Diagnosis & Treatment

Send us a Text Message. Unlock the mysteries of Hansen's disease with us as we welcome acclaimed dermatopathologist, Dr. Mara Dasco. Through her journey from medical school in Galveston to her significant work in Baton Rouge…
Aug. 2, 2024

Decoding Leprosy: Stigma, Science, and Godzilla

Curious about how armadillos and ancient diseases intersect? Prepare to be captivated as we unravel the fascinating mysteries surrounding Hansen's disease, more commonly known as leprosy. We start this season with some fresh…
Dec. 15, 2023

Breaking Barriers: Dr. Shannan Rossi on Viruses and the Business of Science

Ever wondered about the intricate connection between human, animal, plant, and environmental health? Join us as Dr. Shannan Rossi, an associate professor in the Department of Pathology at UTMB, illuminates this fascinating c…
Nov. 15, 2023

Interwoven Threads of Avian Influenza and One Health with Dr. Greg Gray

Ever wondered how bird flu affects not just our feathered friends, but also the wider ecosystem? Prepare to be enlightened as we journey into the world of avian influenza with Dr. Greg Gray. A respected authority on respirat…

Recent Blog Posts

The threat of measles at Chicago's O'Hare Airport

The threat of measles at Chicago's O'Hare Airport is a concern due to the potential for international importations of the measles virus. A study conducted by Lee et al. (2018) investigated the international importations of measles virus into the Uni…

The Invasion of Fall Armyworms: From North America to Africa and Beyond

1. What are fall armyworms, and how did they invade Africa from North America? Fall armyworms (FAW) are destructive pests that have seriously threatened food security in Africa since their invasion in 2016. Originating from North America, these pes…

How Hurricane Maria led to an outbreak of Leptospirosis

Hurricane Maria, a category four hurricane, struck Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017, causing widespread devastation and leaving the island without power, clean water, and proper sanitation for months. The aftermath of the hurricane created the perf…

About the Hosts

Dr. Dennis Bente Profile Photo

Dr. Dennis Bente

Host / Creator

Meet Dr. Dennis Bente, a One Health advocate and Professor in the Microbiology & Immunology department at UTMB. His research focuses on tick-borne viruses and their effects on human and animal health, with a particular interest in tick-borne hemorrhagic fever viruses. He's an expert in biocontainment and conducts his research under maximum safety conditions in the BSL4 labs at UTMB's Galveston National Laboratory.

Dr. Bente received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany. He has extensive expertise in highly contagious transboundary diseases and zoonotic viruses in high biocontainment. He's also very passionate about science education and communication and is always happy to help students and scholars with their career and professional development.

In his free time, Dr. Bente likes to take care of his pets, including his tarantulas, and volunteer with wildlife rescue groups. He's a remarkable scientist and a valuable member of the scientific community.

Dr. Matthew Dacso Profile Photo

Dr. Matthew Dacso

Host / Creator

Dr. Dacso is the Chair ad interim of the Department of Global Health and Emerging Diseases in the new School of Public and Population Health at UTMB. He is also a general internal medicine clinician and an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. As the director of the John Sealy School of Medicine global health concentration, he provides mentorship and supervision to medical students and residents participating in international health electives while collaborating with host partners to design and implement projects that serve their needs. His research focuses on strengthening the capacity for a One Health approach to emerging and re-emerging arboviral infections in the Dominican Republic. Since the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, he has become engaged in institutional preparedness for high-consequence pathogens clinical care, serving as an active member of the Biocontainment Care Unit response team and as the education and training lead for UTMB’s Special Pathogens Excellence in Clinical Treatment, Readiness, & Education (SPECTRE) program.

Connie Holubar Profile Photo

Connie Holubar

Producer/Writer

Connie brings a background in business, public relations and marketing to The Infectious Science Podcast team. As the Director of Operations for the Galveston National Lab, she wears lots of hats, but really likes launching new initiatives and assisting collaborative teams with moving projects forward and communicating their results. Prior to joining UTMB, she worked on the corporate side of marketing, primarily as a copywriter and communications strategist before launching her first marketing firm in Boulder, Colorado. She later moved to North Texas and worked for ad agencies and PR firms as an independent copywriter and publicist before starting her next venture – a PR firm focused on public relations, trade show marketing and website development. Her clients included both start-ups and large corporations with new product lines, which she says is not unlike working with scientists and their research discoveries. Connie claims she prefers to stay “behind the scenes,” but admits she’s having lots of fun in the podcast studio and is becoming more comfortable in front of the mic She received a degree in journalism (advertising) from the University of Missouri and completed an M.S. in marketing and an MBA at the University of Colorado at Denver. She relocated to Galveston and joined UTMB in 2014.

Camille Ledoux Profile Photo

Camille Ledoux

Host / Creator

Camille grew up on a livestock farm in the Adirondack Mountains. She graduated from Cornell University in 2020. She has worked in public health and as a researcher in biology labs where she has studied bacteriophages, cholera and flesh eating bacteria. As a fourth year PhD student she now works in a neuroscience lab studying the comorbid effects of HIV and drugs of abuse. She is a published poet and has written for the university’s One Health newsletter in addition to writing scripts for Infectious Science. When not writing or in the lab she likes to read and make digital art. Since 2020 she has read more than 488 books. She lives with two Maine Coon cats and innumerable plants.

Christina Rios Profile Photo

Christina Rios

Host / Creator

A second-year medical student at UT Medical Branch in Galveston, Christina realized she wanted to pursue a career in medicine after witnessing the chronic lack of healthcare available to many of the communities that helped raise her. Born in San Antonio, Texas, Christina obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin before working in specialty veterinary medicine as both a patient care coordinator and a scrub nurse. At UTMB, she serves on her class’s student council as Vice President and enjoys partaking in intramural sports, taking long walks with her dogs, and creating social media posts during her downtime to educate viewers on the reasoning behind healthcare practices and procedures while simultaneously giving viewers a glimpse into the day-to-day life of a medical student. Looking to the future, one of Christina’s greatest hopes and goals is to establish mobile clinics throughout Latin America to improve rural and border communities’ access to basic health care.

Dr. Daniele Swetnam Profile Photo

Dr. Daniele Swetnam

Host / Creator

Daniele is a post-doctoral fellow working at the intersection of ecology, evolution, and epidemiology. She is interested in the role of environmental stress on viral evolution.

Corey Mark Profile Photo

Corey Mark

Editor / Post-Production

A long-time performing musician and music educator, Corey jumped into post-production audio when much of the live arts and entertainment world went either dormant and online during the COVID pandemic. He brings his background in social science, the arts, community media and activism to the world of radio and podcasting. Corey holds a BA in Psychology from Swarthmore College and an honorary degree in loving speculative fiction. He and his family split their time between Gaborone, Botswana and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.