Nearly half of the world’s citizens live in areas with a risk of catching dengue fever, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the mosquito-borne illness rapidly spreads, especially in the Americas and Caribbean, a  researcher is playing a crucial role in finding solutions.

James Earnest, an assistant professor at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences, is leading two new research projects to examine how humans build an immune response to dengue and the Zika virus over time, in pursuit of creating better preventative measures.

Tackling a Global Problem

Both dengue and Zika are carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which has expanded its habitat from Africa to tropical, subtropical and even temperate areas worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, dengue infections in humans climbed from 505,430 in 2000 to 14.6 million in 2024, an increase of more than 2,700%.

Dengue can be asymptomatic or cause severe pain, fatigue and high fever. Repeated infections can be fatal.

Since 2017, there have been few cases of Zika recorded in the U.S., but the disease persists sporadically in Africa, the Americas and Asia. The virus’ biggest health concern is for pregnant women because contracting Zika can increase risks for serious congenital birth defects.

While people in Mexico and Uganda may benefit from this research, Florida’s location as a worldwide travel destination adds to the growing need for solutions. U.S. dengue cases are on the rise and have been reported in Florida, California, Texas and Hawaii. Most are related to travel. Dengue is also prevalent in Puerto Rico.

“The threat to the U.S. is growing over time. … We want to be the leaders at looking at these viruses.” — James Earnest, UCF Assistant Professor

“With more favorable temperatures and with people traveling around the globe these days, the threat to the U.S. is growing over time,” Earnest says. “I think, especially here in Florida, the potential for these mosquitoes to live in these areas and start transmitting these diseases in the very near future is high. UCF recognizes that this is an important avenue of research for this region, and so we want to be the leaders at looking at these viruses.”

How the UCF Research Works

Earnest’s lab is focused on how the immune system responds to mosquito-borne viruses. Before arriving at UCF in 2024, he tracked dengue via longitudinal sampling in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

Earnest is collaborating with the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) through a five-year $970,813 subcontract, part of a larger grant awarded to UVRI from Wellcome, a London-based charitable organization that supports science to solve urgent health challenges. The project aims to study immune system and antibody responses to dengue and Zika in large cohorts of people in Uganda and in Mexico.

UCF will also collaborate with Emory șŁœÇֱȄ on a $578,157 grant from the National Institutes of Health, with Earnest subcontracted to Emory to study whether combining two current dengue inoculations used in Brazil gives humans better protection against repeat infections.

“It’s important that we understand what good and bad immune responses look like to these viruses.” — James Earnest, UCF Assistant Professor

“It’s important that we understand what good and bad immune responses look like to these viruses,” Earnest says. “When we know those factors, then we can try to steer people in the right direction so that their antibodies will protect them from disease.”

Earnest will coordinate with teams in other countries to regularly collect blood samples and measure antibody production to get a comprehensive look at how different people’s bodies react to dengue and Zika over time. The samples will be collected and processed in Mexico and Uganda, and Earnest will analyze the results in his lab.

“I think what’s unique about this work is that we’re following people over time and not necessarily just when they get sick,” Earnest says.

His research focuses on B cells, which are white blood cells that make antibodies and help the body remember how to fight infections. By tracking how people’s B cells change over time, his team aims to understand how immune responses differ across regions.

In a related project with Emory, the lab will identify the most effective memory B cells and antibodies induced by two existing methods of inoculation for dengue, then test whether combining those methods in Brazilian trial participants produces a stronger immune response.

Students Aim to Save Lives Through Lab Work

With this new research, Earnest’s lab has welcomed two new UCF students who have personal experience with dengue and Zika.

Maiesha Mahmood, a second-year biotechnology master’s student, is from Bangladesh, where the threat of dengue looms.

“I have been around dengue a lot growing up,” Mahmood says. “I know people who have been in hospital with severe forms of dengue, and people who’ve passed away suddenly. People become scared of mosquitos and dengue.”

She says she hopes UCF’s research will someday save lives.

“Back in Bangladesh, we don’t really have a lot of facilities that can support virology research,” she says. “It was a huge opportunity to be able to come here and be able to work with Dr. Earnest. I want to continue looking into these kinds of viruses and find a way to help people who keep suffering from these diseases.”

”ț°ùłÜČÔŽÇÌę±ÊŸ±ČÔłó±đŸ±°ùŽÇÌę’25, a first-year Ph.D. candidate, joined Earnest’s lab to further his education and hopes research will help people close to him.

“My family is from Brazil and so Zika was a very big thing for them,” says Pinheiro, who earned his bachelor’s degree in biotechnology “It’s great to work on something that you can feel will impact the community that you’re a part of.”

Researcher Credentials:

Earnest joined UCF’s College of Medicine as an assistant professor in 2024. He earned his doctorate in microbiology and immunology from Loyola șŁœÇֱȄ Chicago in 2017. He performed postdoctoral research at Washington șŁœÇֱȄ in St. Louis studying antibody responses to mosquito-borne viruses and Emory șŁœÇֱȄ where he managed clinical field trials in Latin America.

Funding and Disclosure:

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number U01AI186860. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Thanks to a new National Institutes of Health grant, a  scientist is investigating a new approach to treat neuropathy without relying on pain pills and anti-depressants.

Assistant Professor Jim Nichols is focused on overlooked mechanisms in the body that may show how the inability to make insulin has “downstream” consequences in other areas, such as how the brain processes and registers sensation in the limbs.

People affected by Type 1 diabetes don’t produce insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar, so patients must inject themselves with insulin to survive.

Before joining UCF, Nichols spent many years looking for new causes of diabetic neuropathy. Nichols theorizes that irregularities in the insulin signaling pathway of peripheral nerves may be the key contributor to diabetic neuropathy. Based on the potential of his early findings, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, which is under the NIH, recently awarded UCF a $747,000 grant to expand that research.

Discovering New Pathways

One of the challenges of living with diabetes is that patients with neuropathy may lose feeling in their extremities and not feel a cut, blister or injury. Those injuries can become infected and even lead to amputation. Such diabetic complications occur more frequently in patients with poor blood sugar control, so Nichols is hoping that his research will find a treatment to regulate and improve neuron signaling that can be used as part of improved blood sugar management.

“We’re diving into an area that’s fresh,” he says. “The research aims we’re going after are based on the insulin signaling pathway, and how the neuropathy evolves due to insulin dysregulation. Ultimately, we’re looking at different ways to alter the insulin signaling pathway to prevent nerve degeneration.”

During the next three years, Nichols and his team will document the behavior of neurons, their signaling systems and surrounding cells to find ways to regulate them to alleviate symptoms of neuropathy.

While approved therapeutics such as opioids and antidepressants can curb those symptoms, Nichols hopes his investigational treatment can become a more viable alternative for diabetic patients.

“We’re trying to find better therapies.” — Assistant Professor Jim Nichols

“There are typical pain therapies out there, although we’re trying to move away from that because diabetic neuropathy isn’t very amenable to the basic treatments that we have,” he says. “We’re trying to find better therapies, and that is our goal.”

Inspired to Learn and Discover

Nichols arrived at UCF in the summer of 2025, and says his goal is to inspire students to pursue bold new research directions. He encourages students to not fear the failures that lead to success.

“One of the things I tell the students is that we fail fast and we fail safe here,” he says. “What that means is that you want to fail as many times as you’re going to fail as fast as possible. You want to get those failures out as fast as possible so that you can learn as fast as possible without having an impact on you or your studies.”

°äłóŸ±ČőŽÇłŸÌꎥ°ìČčČÔŸ±°ùłÜÌę’24ČŃł§Ìęcompleted her master’s degree in biotechnology at UCF after spending nearly five years working in the biomedical field in her home country of Nigeria. Now pursuing a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, she joined Nichols’ lab because she wants to help patients like her parents, who both suffered from diabetes.

“This is personal to me because my mom was diabetic and she died from complications with it,” Akaniru says. “My dad now is showing signs of peripheral neuropathy. There are treatments for other comorbidities of diabetes, but I think it could go a long way to have something that could really help neuropathic pain better.”

Hollie Hayes ’20 graduated from UCF with her bachelor’s degree in biology and then worked in neuroscience research before joining Nichols’ lab as a manager. During her time at UCF, she worked on research to fight pediatric tumors and still carries that inspiration today.

“It got me really interested in focusing on helping people who are just suffering with chronic, debilitating pain, and especially anything that comes with nerves,” Hayes says. “My focus is, ‘How can I help advance the science and help as many people as possible?’ ”

Researcher Credentials:

Nichols is a graduate of the Mississippi State șŁœÇֱȄ College of Veterinary Medicine dual degree program where he examined new therapeutics for multiple sclerosis while completing his veterinary training. He then worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at MD Anderson Cancer Center for five years where he explored pathological mechanisms of pain with a focus on diabetic peripheral neuropathy. After joining UCF in 2025, Nichols and his team continue to explore the underlying mechanisms of diabetic neuropathy.

Funding and Disclosure:

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R00DK142197. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

The study, funded by the Department of Energy, was aimed at investigating if carbon dioxide affects the rates of fuel burning. As carbon dioxide is a waste product of fire, the goal was to look for something to do with it once it is sequestered. While their findings have shown that the addition of carbon dioxide is not effective for combustion, the process could be useful in chemical manufacturing.

“This is an exceptional achievement for an undergraduate student.” – Subith Vasu, UCF professor

Green chemistry has been a growing field looking at how harmful substances used in chemical manufacturing, and their toxic byproducts, can be reduced. Many of the solvents and reagents used in chemical manufacturing today are carcinogenic and produce harmful products. This process described in Wait’s paper could be useful in reducing harmful byproducts in chemical manufacturing.

“This is an exceptional achievement for an undergraduate student,” says Subith Vasu, an associate professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering who along with Artem Masunov, associate professor in the advises Wait. “Her research topic has significant promise for reducing carbon emissions, i.e., enabling a new power-generation concept. Elizabeth has been tremendous in her pursuit of this problem. She is very driven and motivated.”

Wait’s study, conducted in a lab at UCF, found that when fuel is burned in conditions with pure oxygen, it burns too hot, suggesting that the oxygen needs to be diluted to improve the combustion process. She found that while carbon dioxide can speed reaction rates, it does not work in combustion conditions.

Wait and her team first looked at how the reactions occurred from start to finish without carbon dioxide, looking at all of the chemical structures and the energies of the structures along the way. From there, they could look for quantum chemical reaction rates, particularly the reaction of OH + CH₂O → H₂O + CHO. They looked at this reaction both in the presence and absence of carbon dioxide and found that when carbon dioxide was present, the reaction occurred faster, but only at lower temperatures and high pressures – conditions not used for combustion.

Wait, who is scheduled to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in science in the spring, has been working in a lab since her first semester at UCF. In that time, she has published five papers – more than most undergraduate students.

Wait plans on pursuing a graduate degree in computational chemistry and is planning to complete a research internship following her graduation.

On Saturday, he will collect his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences – one of 181 students graduating from the ’s .  During the ceremony, Burnett graduates will be awarded 166 bachelor’s degrees, including nine with university honors, 13 master’s degrees and two Ph.Ds.

“I felt defeated after that incident … but eventually I decided to pick myself up and work towards a new goal.” – Cody Sharp, UCF doctoral student

“I felt defeated after that incident because I was riding on that football career,” says Sharp, who injured his shoulder while playing football at Birmingham Southern șŁœÇֱȄ. “But eventually I decided to pick myself up and work towards a new goal.  I’ve always loved science and I found the bachelor’s in biotechnology program at UCF and it was exactly what I wanted to do – research in medicine. I wanted to do more than treat patients, I wanted to be the one to find cures and treatments.”

In 2008, Sharp enrolled at UCF and pursued undergraduate studies in biotechnology with a minor in coaching and athletics. He stayed at UCF to complete his master’s in biotechnology followed by a doctorate degree. For his Ph.D. program, he joined the lab of infectious disease specialist Saleh Naser and researched Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis or MAP, a strain of bacteria found in cows that can be spread to humans through consumption of milk and beef products.  He helped discover a connection between MAP and rheumatoid arthritis and his study, published in the Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology journal, gained national and international attention.

“Cody’s story is a testament that life’s obstacles can sometimes translate to a successful story.” – Saleh Naser, UCF professor

“Cody’s story is a testament that life’s obstacles can sometimes translate to a successful story,” says Naser. “As his advisor, research mentor and friend, I am very proud of what he has achieved and what he has become, and I have full confidence that he will achieve whatever he sets his mind to.”

The Burnett School offers undergraduate degree programs in biomedical sciences, biotechnology and medical laboratory sciences and prepares students for medical, veterinary, and other related professional schools. Others continue post-graduate studies to become research scientists.

“We are very happy to see our students grow, mature and now leave as colleagues,” says Naser, who is also the associate director of Burnett’s graduate program. “I am proud of the development of our graduate program and we owe it to the hard work and contributions of our students.”

After graduation, Sharp will begin a post-doctoral fellowship at the șŁœÇֱȄ of Florida in January. There, he will research Type 1 diabetes at the UF Diabetes Institute.

“I’m very excited to collect my Ph.D. and to enter this new chapter of my life,” Sharp says, “but I am also really emotional because I’ll be leaving this lab, it’s like my second home. After being at UCF for 10 years, it’s going to be very different not coming here every day, but I’m very excited to see what my future holds.”

Goldwater Scholarships are a prestigious honor that recognizes exceptional research work by undergraduate sophomores and juniors in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics.

Junior George Walters-Marrah was awarded a 2018 Goldwater Scholarship, a prestigious honor that recognizes exceptional research work by undergraduate sophomores and juniors in the natural sciences, engineering and mathematics. This year’s pool was narrowed down from a field of 1,280 students nominated from more than 2,000 colleges and universities nationwide.

Established by Congress in 1986, Goldwater Scholarships reward students with up to $7,500 per year. Recent recipients have gone on to receive Rhodes Scholarships, Marshall Awards, Churchill Scholarships and Hertz Fellowships, among other distinguished awards.

Walters-Marrah, a biotechnology and molecular microbiology major, was named as a scholar as a result of his research on Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab), an environmental mycobacteria often found in bodies of water and decomposing vegetation.

“I’m very honored to actually get this scholarship,” Walters-Marrah says. “I’ve heard a lot about the prestige of the Goldwater Scholarship. It is a magnet for other opportunities.”

Walters-Marrah is a McNair Scholar, Stokes Scholar, and was selected to participate in a National Science Foundation-funded research experience for undergraduate students at the șŁœÇֱȄ of Chicago. His involvement in three different research projects since his freshman year has secured him multiple small grants, as well as a spot on UCF’s Student Undergraduate Research Council. He is also an undergraduate research assistant in Kyle Rohde’s lab at the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. His current research is seeking to discover virulence factors that allow Mab to persist in the body, avoid clearance by the immune system, and resist antibiotic therapy.

Mechanical engineering major and honors student Minh-Chau Le was also recognized by the Goldwater Foundation, receiving an honorable mention for her research in the development of bioengineered materials and devices for cancer research. She was one of only 281 nominees to receive this recognition. Le is a Provost Scholar and 2018 Order of Pegasus recipient.

In the past two years, UCF has produced two Goldwater Scholars and one honorable mention.

If you are a student interested in applying for a Goldwater Scholarship, please contact Morgan Bauer, director of prestigious awards, at Morgan.Bauer@ucf.edu.