Match tier Confirmed
Presence Current · Arkansas
Last published 2026
Sources OpenAlex · ORCID
Refreshed 2026-08-20

Kristian M. Forbes

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

Federal Grant PI High Impact

Associate Professor

Also affiliated: Forest Research Institute (2014); University of Nairobi (2019); Pennsylvania State University (2017–2018); Public Health Agency of Sweden (2019); Swedish Veterinary Agency (2019); Karolinska University Hospital (2019); University of Helsinki (2016–2023); Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (2018); The University of Melbourne (2010–2012); University of Arkansas System (2025–2026); Helsinki University Hospital (2019–2025); Finnish Environment Institute (2013–2014); Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (2003); United States Naval Medical Research Unit SOUTH (2023); Natural Resources Institute Finland (2015); Maasai Mara University (2019); Department of Biological Sciences (2021); Fayetteville Public Library (2021); Millennium Engineering and Integration (United States) (2017); Murdoch Children's Research Institute (2010); Conway School of Landscape Design (2023); University of Jyväskylä (2013–2015)

Faculty Researcher

24 h-index 97 pubs 1,635 cited

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Chiroptera
  • Orthohantavirus
  • Phylogeny
  • Zoonoses
  • Kenya
  • Arvicolinae
  • Disease Reservoirs
  • Hantavirus Infections
  • Female
  • Ebolavirus
  • Male
  • Seasons
  • Animals, Wild

Biography and Research Information

OverviewAI-generated summary

Kristian M. Forbes studies zoonotic diseases, focusing on the interactions between wildlife and humans that can lead to disease transmission. His research investigates host predictions for orthohantaviruses, pathogen spillover risk from bats, and the role of host immunity in viral pathogenesis. Forbes has examined roost selection by bats in rural Kenya and human-bat interactions in the same region, seeking to understand how these behaviors influence the potential for zoonotic disease emergence.

His work also includes serological evidence of zoonotic viral infections in wild rodents in Barbados and in rodents and humans in Kenya. Forbes maintains an active laboratory and has published 97 papers, accumulating 1,608 citations and an h-index of 24. He is a principal investigator on a $695,305 NIH/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases grant examining bat behavior and virus shedding as drivers of spillover risk.

Forbes collaborates with researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, including Janine Mistrick, Shannon M. Kitchen, and Katherine E. Wearing, as well as Amy Schexnayder at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Metrics

  • h-index: 24
  • Publications: 97
  • Citations: 1,635

Selected Publications

  • Egyptian rousette bat humoral immunity to H9 influenza hemagglutinin (2026)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) DOI OpenAlex
  • <i>Bartonella</i> and hemotropic <i>Mycoplasma</i> species in synanthropic bats in Kenya (2026)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) DOI OpenAlex
  • Rat hepatitis E virus and novel paramyxoviruses in synanthropic rodents and shrews in Kenya (2026)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) DOI OpenAlex
  • Age-dependent effects of infection on survival of a wild rodent reservoir host (2026)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) DOI OpenAlex
  • Food Subsidy Effects on Host Foraging Behavior Shape Host–Macroparasite Infection Dynamics (2026)
    Ecology and Evolution DOI OpenAlex
  • Food Supplementation Reduces Nematode Super-Shedding in a Wild Mammal (2026)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • New parajeilongviruses detected in bats but not in humans: assays for screening and diagnostic purposes (2026)
    Archives of Virology 1 citation DOI OpenAlex
  • Dengue virus serotype 4 in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in Kenya (2025)
    PLoS neglected tropical diseases DOI OpenAlex
  • Detection and genetic characterization of alphacoronaviruses in co-roosting bat species, southeastern Kenya (2025)
    PLoS neglected tropical diseases DOI OpenAlex
  • Discovery and characterization of Sager Creek virus, a new orthohantavirus in prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) (2025)
    npj Viruses DOI OpenAlex
  • Summary of taxonomy changes ratified by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) from the Animal dsRNA and ssRNA(−) Viruses Subcommittee, 2025 (2025)
    Journal of General Virology 6 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Detection and genetic characterization of alphacoronaviruses in co-roosting bat species, southeastern Kenya (2024)
    medRxiv 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Modern building structures are a landscape‐level driver of bat–human exposure risk in Kenya (2024)
    Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Bat humoral immunity and its role in viral pathogenesis, transmission, and zoonosis (2024)
    Frontiers in Immunology 16 citations DOI OpenAlex
  • Ecological factors alter how spatial overlap predicts viral infection dynamics in wild rodent populations (2024)
    bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) DOI OpenAlex

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Federal Grants 1 $695,305 total

NIH Contact PI Jul 2024 - May 2028

Beyond discovery: bat behavior and virus shedding as drivers of spillover risk

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases $695,305 R01

Collaboration Network

113 Collaborators 85 Institutions 19 Countries

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