Stephen Rich
Professor of Microbiology and Director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases (NEWVEC) | University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA, UNITED STATES
Stephen Rich studies zoonotic diseases, with a focus on tick-borne diseases and human malaria. He is the director TickReport.
Expertise (8)
Powassan
Vector-Borne Diseases
Ticks and Tick Borne Diseases
Parasitic diseases
Malaria Research
Zoonotic Diseases
Alpha-gal
Lyme Disease
Biography
Stephen Rich studies zoonotic diseases, with a focus on tick- and mosquito-borne diseases including Lyme disease and human malaria.
He is the director of TickReport, a professional tick-testing service that the public can use to determine if a particular tick carries disease-causing pathogens. His work is providing insights into what populations of people are being bitten by ticks, when and where, and what pathogens those ticks are carrying.
Stephen Rich's expertise on tick-borne disease, including Lyme disease, Anaplasma and Babesia, has made him a go-to expert for commentary and predictions on the risks of these diseases.
He directs the Laboratory of Medical Zoology at UMass Amherst, that focuses on infectious diseases, with particular attention to those diseases with transmission cycles that involve other animal species.
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Education (4)
University of California Irvine: Ph.D., Biological Sciences
Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health: S.M., Tropical Medicine
University of Vermont: M.S., Zoology
Saint Lawrence University: B.S., Biology
Links (4)
Select Recent Media Coverage (9)
Mosquito-borne diseases are surging in Europe — how worried are scientists?
Nature online
2024-09-16
Stephen Rich, director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, comments in additional reporting on mosquito-borne illnesses. “Typically, most of us have an immune system that just knocks it out,” he says, adding that older people and those with compromised immune systems are vulnerable to more severe complications.
Every Year is a Tick Year
Boston 25 News tv
2024-08-04
Stephen Rich, professor of microbiology and director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, says ticks still pose a risk even as summer is winding down. “The trend is every year is a tick year. We’ve seen lots of ticks, lots of tick-borne diseases,” Rich says.
Findings suggest few people get sick after bite from ticks infected with Powassan virus
Medical XPress online
2024-07-25
Stephen Rich, professor of microbiology, has new research that shows that very few people who get bitten by ticks infected with the Powassan virus actually get sick. “Our findings explain why there may be so few cases of Powassan virus, even as the number of Powassan-positive ticks appears to be increasing,” he says.
Tick-borne illnesses exploded in New England with climate change. Here’s how to protect yourself.
The Boston Globe online
2024-07-08
Stephen Rich, director of the New England Center of Excellence in Vector-Borne Diseases, comments about the emerging danger from the Lone Star tick in an article about the recent increase in tick-borne diseases. Rich says warmer winters, a suitable woodland habitat and the proliferation of deer have caused the Lone Star tick to expand into our region. Humans who are bitten by the Lone Start tick can develop an allergy to red meat.
Cancer treatment could halt Lyme disease in its tracks, UMass Amherst researchers say
The Boston Globe online
2023-07-28
A type of drug used to treat some cancers could be effective in halting the symptoms of tick-borne Lyme disease according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The work grew out of a graduate student’s observation about similarities between Lyme-causing bacteria and cancer cells, and within the next decade could lead to treatments that provide relief to many thousands suffering from the illness, according to Stephen M. Rich, a UMass microbiology professor who is senior author of the new study published in the academic journal Pathogens.
Hungry ticks can use this static trick to land on you and your pets
AP News online
2023-06-30
Ticks are “ambush predators,” explained Stephen Rich, a public health entomologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. They can’t jump or fly onto their hosts, he said. Instead, they hang out on a branch or a blade of grass with their legs outstretched — a behavior known as “questing” — and wait for people or animals to pass by so they can grab on and bite.
The Best Way to Remove a Tick? Use This Two-Sided Tool
Men's Journal online
2024-06-03
Stephen Rich discusses best practices for avoiding ticks and how to remove them. “Where they really like to be is right on the edge of where that grass meets the wooded area. Keep your grass cut, keep the leaves blown because they really like leaf litter,” he says.
Parrot Fever Surge Leads to 5 Deaths in Europe
Everyday Health online
2024-03-12
Stephen Rich, executive director of the New England Regional Center of Vector-borne Diseases, comments in an article on “parrot fever,” a bacterial disease that has resulted in at least five deaths in Europe. “It’s a serious disease and not to be taken lightly, but it’s been around for a long time and it’s not going to be the next COVID,” he says.
Mass. college students working with CDC to surveil ticks, track how they move
25 News Boston tv
2023-04-06
Inside the Department of Microbiology at UMass Amherst students work to better understand what makes a tick tick. The students are now working with Dr. Stephen Rich on a $10 million CDC study called Project ITCH – Is Tick Control Helping? “They are the most important vectors of disease in North America,” said Rich. “So we really have to do something to reduce the numbers in order to reduce the incidents of disease.”
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