Peter Daszak, B.Sc., Ph.D.
Executive Director, Consortium for Conservation Medicine, New York

E-mail:  daszak@conservationmedicine.org
Telephone: 212-380-4470
Fax: 212-380-4475
Website: www.conservationmedicine.org

Dr. Peter Daszak is the Executive Director of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine. He directs the Consortium's programs in research, education, policy, and practical conservation. He is originally from Britain, where he earned a B.Sc. in zoology and a Ph.D. in parasitology.

His research focuses on the taxonomy, pathology, and conservation impact of parasitic diseases, particularly those of non-mammalian vertebrates and invertebrates. In collaboration with groups in Britain, Australia, and the United States, he discovered a previously unknown fungal disease of amphibians, chytridiomycosis ,  that  is  a major cause  of  frog population declines  globally and may be transmitted by bullfrogs. This discovery highlights the link between global trade and disease emergence, a process known as pathogen pollution.

Dr. Daszak has adjunct positions at three American and two British universities; has served on committees of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, World Health Organization, National Academy of Sciences, and Department of the Interior; and has advised a range of governmental, commercial, and non-commercial organizations. He has been published in Science and in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . In addition, he is currently co-authoring a popular science book on emerging wildlife diseases. Dr. Daszak has received a number of awards, including the 2000 CSIRO medal for collaborative work on the amphibian disease chytridiomycosis, and his work has been the focus of extensive media coverage in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times , The Washington Post , and US News & World Report . He has appeared on broadcasts such as CNN, ABC, NPR's Talk of the Nation, and NPR's Morning Edition.

Areas of Expertise:

• Emerging Diseases
• Emerging diseases, such as West Nile Virus, SARS, HIV, Ebola, Lyme disease etc.
• Global impact of diseases
• The impact of disease on wildlife species
• Extinction of species
• Trade and the transport of diseases (e.g., West Nile Virus, Foot and Mouth Disease)
• Global warming, climate change and threats to human and wildlife health

Selected Publications

Li, W., Shi, Z., Yu, M., Ren, W., Smith, C., Epstein, J.H., Wang, H., Crameri, G., Hu, Z., Zhang, H., Zhang, J., McEachern, J., Field, H., Daszak, P., Eaton, B.T., Zhang, S., Wang, L. 2005. Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-Like Coronaviruses. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1118391.

Boyle, D.G., Hyatt, A.D., Daszak, P., Berger, L., Longcore, J.E., Porter, D., Hengstberger, S.G., Olsen, V. 2003. Cryo-archiving of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and other chytridiomycetes. Diseases of Aquatic Oranisms 56: 59-64. Full Text

Pascolini, R., Daszak, P., Cunningham, A.A., Tei, S., Vagnetti, D., Bucci, S., Fagotti, A., Di Rosa, I. 2003. Parasitism by Dermocystidium ranae in a population of Rana esculenta complex in Central Italy and description of Amphibiocystidium n. gen. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 56: 65-74.
Full text

Cunningham, A. A ., Daszak, P., Rodríguez, J. P. 2003. Pathogen Pollution: Defining a Parasitological Threat To Biodiversity Conservation. The Journal of Parasitology 89: S78-S83.
Full text

Daszak, P. Cunningham, A. A . 2003. Anthropogenic Change, Biodiversity Loss, And A New Agenda For Emerging Diseases. The Journal of Parasitology 89: S37-S41. Full text

Daszak, P., Cunningham, A., Hyatt, A. 2003. Infectious Disease and Amphibian Population Declines. Journal of Diversity and Distributions 9:141-150. Full Text

Daszak, P., Cunningham, A.A. & Hyatt, A.D. 2001. Anthropogenic environmental change and the emergence of infectious diseases in wildlife. Acta Tropica 78:103-116.  Full text

Daszak, P., Cunningham, A.A. & Hyatt, A.D. 2000. Emerging infectious diseases of wildlife: threats to biodiversity and human health. Science 287:443-449  Full text

Daszak, P., Berger, L., Cunningham, A.A., et al. 1999. Emerging infectious diseases and amphibian population declines. Emerging Infectious Diseases 5:735-748.