Angelle Desiree LaBeaud is a clinician at Children's Hospital Oakland Pediatric Infectious Disease department and an assistant scientist at CHORI. Her research focuses on the study of arthropod- (or mosquito-) borne viruses. In particular, Dr. LaBeaud investigates Rift Valley fever virus in Kenya, where outbreaks cause fever, retinitis, encephalitis, and hemorrhagic fever. Dr. LaBeaud's main research questions focus on the risk factors for arboviral infections, the development of field diagnostic tests, and the genetic and immunologic investigation of the human spectrum of disease. Her long-term goals are to contribute to a deeper understanding of arboviral infections and their long-term health consequences and to optimize control strategies to prevent these emerging infections.
Dr. LaBeaud also examines the effects of parasitic infections and their treatments on vaccine response to standard childhood vaccines. Dr. LaBeaud's immunologic studies will determine how parasitic infections of pregnant mothers affect the developing fetal immune system, whether antenatal parasitic treatment can reverse this effect, and how this interference is mediated. These studies are relevant to current global vaccination programs, future vaccine trials, and ongoing parasite treatment and control programs.
