Name: Kevin R. Macaluso
Education:
1990-1991; St. Petersburg Junior College, St. Petersburg, FL
1991-1994; Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
B.S. Biological Science
1994-1996; Sul Ross State University, Alpine, TX,
Department of Biology
M.S. Biology
Advisor: Dr. Jim V. Richerson (Deceased)
1996-2000; Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Ph.D. Entomology
Advisor: Dr. Stephen K. Wikel
Recent Professional Experience:
2009-present; Associate Professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State
University, School of Veterinary Medicine.
2004-2008; Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State
University, School of Veterinary Medicine.
2000-2004; National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, University of Maryland at Baltimore, School of Medicine. Research includes
examining the molecular mechanisms of Rickettsia/tick and flea interactions.
Publications closely related to wildlife health research:
Macaluso KR and SK Wikel. Dermacentor andersoni: effects of repeated infestations on lymphocyte
proliferation, cytokine production, and adhesion-molecule expression by BALB/c mice. Ann Trop
Med Parasitol 2001; 95:413-427.
Macaluso KR, DE Sonenshine, SM Ceraul, and AF Azad. Infection and transovarial transmission of
rickettsiae in Dermacentor variabilis acquired by artificial feeding. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis
2001; 1:45-53.
Boostrom A, MS Beier, JA Macaluso, KR Macaluso, D Sprenger, J Hayes, and AF Azad. Rickettsiae in
fleas and opossums of Texas. Emerg Infect Dis 2002; 8:549-554.
Macaluso KR, DE Sonenshine, SM Ceraul, and AF Azad. Rickettsial infection in Dermacentor
variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) inhibits transovarial transmission of a second Rickettsia. J Med Entomol
2002; 39:809-813.
Mulenga A, KR Macaluso, JA Simser, and AF Azad. Dynamics of Rickettsia-tick interactions:
identification and characterization of differentially expressed mRNAs in uninfected and infected
Dermacentor variabilis. Insect Mol Biol 2003; 12:185-193.
Macaluso KR, J Davis, U Alma, A Korman, J Rutherford, R Rosenberg, and AF Azad. Spotted fever
group rickettsiae in ticks from the Masai Mara region of Kenya. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2003; 68:551553.
Macaluso KR, A Mulenga, JA Simser, and AF Azad. Interactions between rickettsiae and Dermacentor
variabilis ticks: analysis of gene expression. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2003; 990:568-572.
Macaluso KR, A Mulenga, JA Simser, and AF Azad. Differential expression of genes in uninfected and
Rickettsia-infected Dermacentor variabilis as assessed by differential display PCR. Infect Immun.
2003; 71:6165-6170.
Rutherford JS, KR Macaluso*, N Smith, SR Zaki, CD Paddock, JM Davis, N Peterson, AF Azad, and R
Rosenberg. A case of fatal spotted fever rickettsiosis in Kenya. Emerg Infect Dis 2004; 10:910-913. *
= corresponding author
Maxwell SS, TA Stoklasek, Y Dash, KR Macaluso and SK Wikel. Tick modulation of the in-vitro
expression of adhesion molecules by skin-derived endothelial cells. Ann Trop Med Parasitol 2005;
99:1-12.
Macaluso KR, A Mulenga, JA Simser, and AF Azad. Characterization of Dermacentor variabilis
molecules associated with rickettsial infection. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2006; 1078: 384-388.
Pornwiroon W, SS Pourciau, LD Foil, and KR Macaluso. Rickettsia felis from cat fleas: Isolation and
culture in a tick-derived cell line. App Environ Microbiol. 2006; 72:5589-5595.
Henry K, J Jiang, PJ Rozmajzl, AF Azad, KR Macaluso, AL Richards. Development of quantitative realtime PCR assays to detect Rickettsia typhi and Rickettsia felis, the causative agents of murine typhus
and flea-borne spotted fever. Molec & Cell Probes. 2007: 21:17-23.
Zanetti AS, W Pornwiroon, MT Kearney, KR Macaluso. Characterization of rickettsial infection in
Amblyomma americanum (Acari:Ixodidae) by quantitative real-time PCR. J Med Entomol 2008;
45:267-275.
Reif KE, RW Stout, GC Henry, LD Foil, and KR Macaluso*. Prevalence and infection load dynamics of
Rickettsia felis in actively feeding Ctenocephalides felis. PLoSOne. 2008;3(7).
Reif KE and KR Macaluso. The ecology of Rickettsia felis. J Med Entomol. 2009: 46(4):723-736.
Pornwiroon W, A Bourchookarn, CD Paddock, KR Macaluso. Proteomic analysis of Rickettsia parkeri
strain Portsmouth. Infect Immun. 2009; 77(12):5262-5271.
Reif KE, MT Kearney, LD Foil, KR Macaluso. Acquisition of Rickettsia felis by cat fleas during
feeding. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2011;11(7):963-968.
Hirunkanokpun, S, C Thepparit, LD Foil, and KR Macaluso. Horizontal transmission of Rickettsia felis
between cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis. Mol Ecol. 2011; 20(21):4577-4586.
Grasperge BJ, KE Reif, TD Morgan, P Sunyakumthorn, J Bynog, CD Paddock, KR Macaluso.
Susceptibility of inbred mice to Rickettsia parkeri. Infect Immun. 2012; 80(5):1846-52.
Grasperge BJ, W Wolfson, KR Macaluso. Rickettsia parkeri infection in domestic dogs, Southern
Louisiana, USA, 2011. Emerg Infect Dis 2012; 18(6):995-997.