Fátima Jorge
Collaborator
My main research interests are in ecological and evolutionary aspects of host-parasite associations - how they arise and shape the evolution and diversification of organisms. My research has mainly focused on unravelling coevolutionary patterns of diversification of parasites. I initiated my research experience in parasitology during a volunteer internship at the Portuguese Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, working with an experimental model of infection of African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). During my Masters and PhD research at the University of Porto and in CIBIO-InBIO as a member of the AP group, I mainly focused on studying the evolutionary history of host-parasite associations in a group of parasitic nematodes of reptiles. Through my collaborations with AP and at the University of Otago (New Zealand), I have also looked at several other host-parasite systems exploring cophylogeographic patterns and host-specificity and its influence on parasite diversification using (co)phylogenetic methods. I have also explored large-scale patterns of parasite diversity using spatial analytical tools, aiming at understanding how parasite biodiversity is spatially distributed and how it evolves across different host groups.
I am a currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Otago. My current projects focuses on investigating the diversity of microbiome of parasites, how they shape parasite biology and interaction with the host; and the macroevolutionary patterns behind the differential rates of parasite diversification.