Declan Schroeder

I am proud of my accomplishments as a PI, which is based on my high impact contributions to One Health and the opportunity to make a difference in helping our global food system become more sustainable. My team’s overarching research objectives are to develop molecular-based research approaches and tools, rooted in both the Life Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, to provide a mechanistic understanding as how to best intervene or mitigate the negative impact that viruses may have on food animals, wild-life and associated organisms in the modern food system. My research is focused on (1) the role of viral diversity (quasi-species) as it relates to seaweed production, bee pollination services, and swine or cattle production; and (2) establishing best detection and surveillance practices for viral pathogens responsible for significant losses to important wild-life, pollinator and agricultural species.

As it pertains to honey bees, we are driven to conduct meaningful, high impact research that contributes toward solving complex problems associated with viruses in U.S. and global agriculture. Honey bees are essential pollinators and food producers in the US and globally but more than 40% of them die on an annual basis. In 2025, this number increased to an alarming 60%. My research team was the first to confirm that Deformed wing virus (DWV) load, and its association with Varroa destructor (Varroa), are responsible for the death of millions of honey bee colonies worldwide. We are currently testing antiviral products capable of neutralizing and controlling the spread of DWV, evaluating whether bee hygienic behaviour can limit virus spread in a colony, and determining whether other pollinator bees are at risk from virus spillover.