Karen Shapiro

Karen Shapiro

Professor

Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology

Office
5303 VM3A, Davis, CA 95616

Licenses
California Veterinary Medical Association, Boarded
Education
2011, MPVM, University of California, Davis, California
2009, PhD, University of California, Davis, California
2002, DVM, University of California, Davis, California
1997, BS, University of California, Davis, California
Active Research Grants
Principal Investigator, Environmental forces shape the ecology of virulent parasites in coastal ecosystems, NIH
Principal Investigator, Interaction between microplastics and pathogen pollutants in marine ecosystems: Implications for seafood safety , (Principal Investigator), Ocean Protection Council - California Sea grant
Principal Investigator, Viable protozoan pathogen dynamics in oysters and associated risk to shellfish consumers, (Principal Investigator), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Co-Principal Investigator, Investigating the virulence of Sarcocystis neurona genotypes as a driver of mortality in threatened southern sea otters, Devinn Sinnott (Principal Investigator), AAZV WAHF
Trainer, Investigating Sarcocystis neurona virulence as a driver for mortality in California sea otters, Devinn Sinnott (Principal Investigator), Morris Animal Foundation
Principal Investigator, Advancing molecular technology for detection of foodborne pathogens in California aquaculture, (Principal Investigator), CFAH
Co-Principal Investigator, The Water-Food-Health Nexus: A Nunavut-led Assessment, Sherilee Harper (Principal Investigator), Canada Institute of Health Research
External Links
Shapiro Lab
Honors and Awards
2023-2028 UC Davis Chancellor's Fellow
2010 Oceans and Human Health Postdoctoral Fellowship
2008-2009 Floyd and Mary Schwall Dissertation Year Fellowship in Medical Research in Comparative Pathology
2008 Walter Carr Award, Outstanding Student Paper, Northern California Parasitologists Annual Meeting
2008 Consortium for Women and Research Travel Award
2008 Traum Microbiology Scholarship
2008 International EcoHealth Forum Full Travel Scholarship
2006-2009 School of Veterinary Medicine Graduate Student Support Scholarship
2005-2009 Graduate Group of Comparative Pathology Student Block Fund Scholarship
Most Recent Five Book Chapters
2023 VanWormer E, Shapiro K: Toxoplasmosis and One Health, Jessup DA, Radcliffe RW, (ed), Wildlife Disease and Health in Conservation (Wildlife Management and Conservation), . .
2021 Kim M, Shapiro K: Detection of Protozoan Parasites on Leafy Greens Using Multiplex PCR, , Methods and Protocols in Food Science: Detection and Enumeration of Bacteria, Yeast, Viruses, and Protozoan in Foods and Freshwater, . .
2021 Kim M, Shapiro K: Detection of Toxoplasma gondii and Cyclospora cayetanensis in Oysters, , Methods and Protocols in Food Science: Detection and Enumeration of Bacteria, Yeast, Viruses, and Protozoan in Foods and Freshwater, . .
2018 Miller M, Shapiro K, Raverty S: Protozoan parasites of marine mammals, Gulland F, (ed), Handbook of marine mammal medicine, . .
2017 Bahia-Oliviera L, Gomez-Marin J, Shapiro K: Toxoplasma gondii, Rose JB, Jimenez-Cisneros B, (ed), The Global Water Pathogen Project, . .
Research Focus
Areas of research interest include transport and fate of zoonotic pathogens in watersheds and coastal ecosystems; effects of landscape change and climate variability on disease transmission; impacts of water scarcity and impaired quality on human and animal population health, and food safety.Topics of research projects include:
  • Zoonotic infectious diseases
  • Waterborne infectious diseases
  • Food safety
  • Wildlife population health
  • Human public health
  • Epidemiology
Specialty Focus

Waterborne zoonoses

Ten Recent Publications

2023
Zhu S, VanWormer E, Martinez-Lopez B, Bahia-Oliveira LMG, DaMatta RA, Rodrigues PS, Shapiro K^
Quantitative Risk Assessment of Oocyst Versus Bradyzoite Foodborne Transmission of Toxoplasma gondii in Brazil

2023
Zhu S, VanWormer E, Shapiro K^
More people, more cats, more parasites: Human population density and temperature variation predict prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii oocyst shedding in free-ranging domestic and wild felids

2023
Miller M, Newberry C, Sinnott D, Batac F, Greenwald K, Reed A, Young C, Harris M, Packham A, Shapiro K^
Newly detected, virulent Toxoplasma gondii COUG strain causing fatal steatitis and toxoplasmosis in southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis)

2023
Daza-Torres ML, Montesinos-López JC, Kim M, Olson R, Bess CW, Rueda L, Susa M, Tucker L, García YE, Schmidt AJ, Naughton CC, Pollock BH, Shapiro K, Nuño M, Bischel HN
Model training periods impact estimation of COVID-19 incidence from wastewater viral loads

2022
Naganathan T, O'Connor A, Sargeant JM, Shapiro K, Totton S, Winder C, Greer AL
The prevalence of Cyclospora cayetanensis in water: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2022
Safford H, Zuniga-Montanez RE, Kim M, Wu X, Wei L, Sharpnack J, Shapiro K, Bischel HN
Wastewater-Based Epidemiology for COVID-19: Handling qPCR Nondetects and Comparing Spatially Granular Wastewater and Clinical Data Trends

2022
Zuniga-Montanez R, Coil DA, Eisen JA, Pechacek R, Guerrero RG, Kim M, Shapiro K, Bischel HN
The challenge of SARS-CoV-2 environmental monitoring in schools using floors and portable HEPA filtration units: Fresh or relic RNA?

2022
Coil DA, Pechacek R, Kaze M, Zuniga-Montanez R, Guerrero RG, Eisen JA, Shapiro K, Bischel HN
SARS-CoV-2 RNA Is Readily Detectable at Least 8 Months after Shedding in an Isolation Facility

2022
Zhu S, Shapiro K^, VanWormer E
Dynamics and epidemiology of Toxoplasma gondii oocyst shedding in domestic and wild felids

2022
Zhang E, Kim M, Rueda L, Rochman C, VanWormer E, Moore J, Shapiro K^
Association of zoonotic protozoan parasites with microplastics in seawater and implications for human and wildlife health