Hall Research Group

Research

Three themes

  1. 01Infectious disease in a warming world
  2. 02More than just the sicker sex
  3. 03Ecotoxicology meets ecology and evolution

Does the evolutionary potential of disease depend on the form of global change?

And which populations are most at risk?

Infectious disease along latitudinal clines

Global change has been linked to the increased occurrence of diseases, but more often any change in the severity or occurrence of disease depends on the form of climate change and the specifics of the host–pathogen system. We seek to identify the conditions that lead to pathogens or hosts becoming evolutionary winners or losers under warmer conditions.

Selected papers

  • J Lush, CM Sgrò, MD Hall (2024) Anticipating change: the impact of simulated seasonal heterogeneity on heat tolerances along a latitudinal cline. Ecology 105(7), e4359. PDF DOI
  • TE Hector, MS Shocket, CM Sgrò, MD Hall (2024) Acclimation to warmer temperatures can protect host populations from both further heat stress and the potential invasion of pathogens. Global Change Biology 30(6), e17341. PDF DOI
  • TE Hector, CM Sgrò, MD Hall (2021) Thermal limits in the face of infectious disease: how important are pathogens? Global Change Biology 27(19), 4469–4480. PDF DOI

Why do males and females vary in their responses to pathogen attacks?

And which sex is likely to drive the spread of disease?

Beyond the sicker sex

Sex differences in the intensity of infection are universal. One sex is often described as the “sicker sex”, with females typically more susceptible to infection in invertebrates, versus males in mammals and birds. We aim to understand how such differences have evolved and the consequences they have for the epidemiology, ecology, and evolution of disease.

Selected papers

  • NJ Butterworth, L Heffernan, MD Hall (2024) Is there a sicker sex? Dose relationships modify male–female differences in infection prevalence. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 291, 20232575. PDF DOI
  • SAY Gipson, AK Pettersen, L Heffernan, MD Hall (2022) Host sex modulates the energetics of pathogen proliferation and its dependence on environmental resources. The American Naturalist 199(5), E186–E196. PDF DOI
  • MD Hall, N Mideo (2018) Linking sex differences to the evolution of infectious disease life-histories. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 373, 20170431. PDF DOI

When might warming accelerate or dampen the impact of chemical contaminants?

And how do animals adapt to environments degraded by human activity?

Ecotoxicology meets ecology and evolution

Many chemicals used as drugs in human and veterinary medicine are increasingly detected as pollutants in the habitats of wildlife. But measures of toxicity, on which management depends, are commonly extrapolated from estimates of mortality alone, measured on a single reference genotype, under benign laboratory conditions.

Selected papers

  • LC Aulsebrook, BBM Wong, MD Hall (2022) Warmer temperatures limit the effects of antidepressant pollution on life-history traits. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 289(1968). PDF DOI
  • LC Aulsebrook, BBM Wong, MD Hall (2023) Can pharmaceutical pollution alter the spread of infectious disease? A case study using fluoxetine. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 378(1873). PDF DOI
  • LC Aulsebrook, BBM Wong, MD Hall (2024) Pharmaceutical pollution alters the cost of bacterial infection and its relationship to pathogen load. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 291(2014), 20231273. PDF DOI

How we work — the model system