Chantal Vogels, PhD

Dr. Chantal Vogels is a Research Scientist in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health. Her main research interest is in the ecology and evolution of arthropod-borne (arbo)viruses of public health importance.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Vogels has applied her expertise to the development of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic assays and genomic surveillance. Together with her colleagues, she developed SalivaDirect, a simplified and flexible platform to enhance SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity. Additionally, she helped to establish the Yale SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Surveillance Initiative through which over 19.000 samples have been sequenced.

Currently, Dr. Vogels is developing amplicon-based sequencing approaches for other emerging viruses such as Powassan virus, dengue virus, and monkeypox virus by utilizing currently implemented sequencing workflows. With these tools, she is studying 1) the emergence and spread of the tick-borne Powassan virus, 2) the impact of dengue virus genetic diversity on control tools such as the virus-inhibiting Wolbachia bacterium, and 3) the identification and characterization of emerging West Nile virus variants.