William Laegreid
Professor, Pathobiology
Professional Interests: Dr. Laegreid’s research interests are focused on the pathogenesis and control of animal diseases, especially high consequence infections of livestock. He utilizes molecular, cellular, animal and population based studies to elucidate mechanisms of injury and susceptibility to viral and bacterial disease. Dr. Laegreid’s recent work is directed towards understanding the how genomic variation of hosts and pathogens interacts to influence the expression of disease at the population level. Dr. Laegreid is the author or co-author of over 75 peer reviewed scientific publications, as well as contributions to books, reports and other publications.
Dr. Laegreid obtained his BS, MS, DVM and PhD degrees from Washington State. In addition he completed a residency in anatomic pathology in the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory. After moving to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center he became Research Leader of the Molecular Pathology Unit, initiating pathogenesis and vaccine research primarily on arthropod borne transboundary diseases such as African horsesickness and Venezuelan equine encephalitis, as well as working with other exotic diseases such as African swine fever, and foot-and-mouth disease. Dr. Laegreid became Research Leader of the Animal Health Unit at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center where he led research programs on zoonotic foodborne pathogens, and genomics of livestock disease, including E. coli O157:H7 and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. In 2007, he became a professor in the faculty of the Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Selected Publications
Elder, R.O., J.E. Keen, G.R. Siragusa, G.A. Barkocy-Gallagher, M. Koohmaraie, and W.W. Laegreid 2000. Correlation of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157 prevalence in feces, hides and carcasses of beef cattle during processing. Proc.Natl.Acad.Sci. 97(7): 2999-3003.
Laegreid, W.W., M.P. Heaton, J.E. Keen, W.M. Grosse, C.G. Chitko-McKown, T.P.L. Smith, J.W. Keele, G.L. Bennett, and T.E. Besser, 2002. Association of bovine neonatal Fc receptor a-chain gene (FCGRT) haplotypes with serum IgG concentration in newborn calves. Mamm Genome, 13:704-710.
Osorio, F.A., J.A. Galeota, E. Nelson, B. Brodersen, A. Doster, R. Wills, F. Zuckermann, and W.W. Laegreid 2002. Passive transfer of virus-specific antibodies confers protection against reproductive failure induced by a virulent strain of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus and establishes sterilizing immunity. Virology, 302:9-20.
Heaton, M.P., K.A. Leymaster, B.A. Freking, D.A. Hawk, J.W. Keele, G.P. Harhay, W.M. Snelling, J.M. Fox, C.G. Chitko-McKown, and W.W. Laegreid. 2003. Prion gene sequence variation within diverse groups of U.S. sheep, beef cattle, and deer. Mamm. Genome. 14:1-13.
Laegreid, W.W. and J.E. Keen, 2004. Estimation of the basic reproductive rate (R0) for shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC O157) in beef calves. Epidemiology and Infection, 132(2):291-295.
Johnson, JS, W.W. Laegreid, R.J. Basaraba, D.C. Baker. 2006. Truncated Gamma-Glutamyl Carboxylase in Rambouillet Sheep. Vet. Path. 43:430-437.
Hoffman, MA, C. Menge, T.A. Casey, W.W. Laegreid, B.T. Bosworth, E.A. Dean-Nystrom. 2006. Bovine immune response to Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli O157:H7. Clin.Vacc.Immunol. 13(12):1322-7.
Green BT, M.P. Heaton, M.L. Clawson, C.G. Chitko-McKown, W.W. Laegreid. 2006. Linkage disequilibrium across six prion gene regions spanning 20 kbp in U.S. sheep. Mammalian Genome 17(11):1121-9.
Clawson, ML, M.P. Heaton, J.W. Keele, W.W. Laegreid. 2006. Linkage disequilibrium and haplotype structure in the prion gene of U.S. beef and dairy cattle. BMC Genetics, 7(1):51.
Chang ACY, L. Zsak, Y. Feng, R. Mosseri, Q. Lu, P. Kowalski, W.W. Laegreid, D.L. Rock, and S.N. Cohen. 2006. Phenotype-Based Identification of Host Genes Required for Propagation of African Swine Fever Virus, J. Virol. 80(17):8705-8717.
Bono, JL, J.E. Keen, M.L. Clawson, M.P. Heaton, W.W. Laegreid. 2007. Association of specific tir alleles in Escherichia coli O157:H7 with virulence in humans. BMC Infectious Disease 7:98.
