Kristian M. Forbes Source Confirmed

Affiliation confirmed via AI analysis of OpenAlex, ORCID, and web sources.

Federal Grant PI High Impact

Associate Professor

University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

faculty

22 h-index 93 pubs 1,535 cited

Research Areas

Viral Infections and Vectors Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Immune Response and Inflammation Microbial infections and disease research Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies Health and Medical Research Impacts

Links

ORCID Lab Website

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OverviewAI-generated summary

Kristian M. Forbes investigates the complex interactions between wildlife and humans that drive the spillover of zoonotic diseases. His research focuses on understanding host-pathogen dynamics, particularly in relation to viruses carried by bats and rodents. Forbes is currently serving as PI on an NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant of $700,636, titled "Beyond discovery: bat behavior and virus shedding as drivers of spillover risk." This project aims to elucidate how bat behavior and virus shedding patterns contribute to the risk of pathogen transmission to humans.

Forbes's recent publications explore various facets of zoonotic risk. These include studies on the prediction of zoonotic risk, the role of virus isolation data in understanding host-pathogen relationships for orthohantaviruses, and the selection of roosting sites by synanthropic bats in Kenya and its implications for human-wildlife conflict and pathogen spillover. He has also published on bat humoral immunity and its significance in viral pathogenesis and transmission, as well as serological evidence of zoonotic viral infections in rodents and humans in Kenya and Barbados.

With a h-index of 22 and over 1,500 citations across 93 publications, Forbes has a significant scholarly output. His collaborations include work with researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, including Janine Mistrick, Shannon M. Kitchen, Amy Schexnayder, and Abigail Stolt.

Metrics

h-index: 22
Publications: 93
Citations: 1,535

Selected Publications

Food Subsidy Effects on Host Foraging Behavior Shape Host–Macroparasite Infection Dynamics (2026) DOI
Food Supplementation Reduces Nematode Super-Shedding in a Wild Mammal (2026) DOI
New parajeilongviruses detected in bats but not in humans: assays for screening and diagnostic purposes (2026) DOI
Detection and genetic characterization of alphacoronaviruses in co-roosting bat species, southeastern Kenya (2025) DOI
Discovery and characterization of Sager Creek virus, a new orthohantavirus in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) (2025) DOI
Summary of taxonomy changes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) from the Animal dsRNA and ssRNA(−) Viruses Subcommittee, 2025 (2025) DOI
Detection and genetic characterization of alphacoronaviruses in co-roosting bat species, southeastern Kenya (2024) DOI
Modern building structures are a landscape‐level driver of bat–human exposure risk in Kenya (2024) DOI
Bat humoral immunity and its role in viral pathogenesis, transmission, and zoonosis (2024) DOI
Ecological factors alter how spatial overlap predicts viral infection dynamics in wild rodent populations (2024) DOI
Current and future environmental suitability for bats hosting potential zoonotic pathogens in rural Kenya (2024) DOI
Effects of food supplementation and helminth removal on space use and spatial overlap in wild rodent populations (2024) DOI
Frequent and intense human-bat interactions occur in buildings of rural Kenya (2024) DOI
Kenyan Free-Tailed Bats Demonstrate Seasonal Birth Pulse Asynchrony with Implications for Virus Maintenance (2024) DOI
Novel Ozark Orthohantavirus in Hispid Cotton Rats (<i>Sigmodon hispidus</i>), Arkansas, USA (2023) DOI