Climate Change, Range Expansion of Native and Invasive Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases, and Ensuing Public Health Challenges with Dr. Goudarz Molaei

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Increasing incidence of tick-borne diseases poses a critical public health threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported cases of Lyme disease in the United States (U.S.) have increased from 16,461 (incidence 6.11) in 1996 to 89,470 (incidence 26.94) in 2023, indicating an over five-fold and four-fold increase in the average number of cases and incidence (cases per 100,000 population), respectively. However, recent estimates suggest that approximately 476,000 people may be diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year in the U.S. Connecticut is among the top 10 states with the highest Lyme disease cases, reporting 37,949 cases from 2008 to 2023, and had the 10th highest incidence of 89.9 in 2023. In this lecture, the current status of ticks and tick-borne diseases in the U.S. and Connecticut and measures to prevent tick bites will be discussed. Our presenter will be Goudarz Molaei, Ph.D., a full research scientist and medical entomologist, director of the Passive Tick and Tick-borne Disease Surveillance Program, and an associate professor adjunct at the Yale School of Public Health. 6:00 p.m., A. B.  Ceder Room and Microsoft Teams, FREE…Donations will be accepted to help defray the Conservation Center’s programming expenses.

A TEAMS link will be emailed with registration receipt.

Please pre-register: Tick Registration

About Our Speaker: Dr. Goudarz Molaei is a research scientist—medical entomologist and director of the Tick and Tick-borne Disease Surveillance Program at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES). He is also an associate professor adjunct at the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health; a member of the leadership team at the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases, established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2016; a leadership team member at the Northeast Regional Center for Training and Evaluation in Vector-borne Diseases, established by CDC in 2023; a member of the Stakeholders Advisory Committee for the New England Regional Center for Excellence in Vector-borne Diseases, established by CDC in 2023; and the lead for vector-borne diseases subcommittee for the Connecticut Governor’s Council on Climate Change-Public Health and Safety Working Group; an editorial board member for the Journal of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases; and a member of the Multi-State Research Project NE-1443: Biology, Ecology, and Management of Emerging Disease Vectors. Dr. Molaei’s research focus is on the ecology and biology of mosquitoes and ticks and their respective roles in the enzootic and epidemic transmission of vector-borne diseases at the CAES Center for Vector Biology & Zoonotic Diseases. He has published numerous articles in highly regarded peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Emerging Infectious Diseases,Journal of Infectious Diseases, and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. His research findings have been reported by the Associated Press and many other news agencies and recognized as one of the Top 100 Science Discoveries by Discover Magazine.