Since my undergraduate studies my main research interests have revolved around the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions. My phd thesis focused on the causes and consequences of variation in immune function, using wild blue tits and genetically engineered lab mice as study organisms. After a post doc with Andrew Read in Edinburgh, where I performed some experiments with the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium chabaudi in lab mice, I returned to Lund in 2006 and set up a new study system: the tick transmitted bacterium Borrelia afzelii in wild rodents. We are currently using this system to address questions like:

• What determines the transmission success of a pathogen?
• How does natural selection act on immune defence genes?