69. Exploring new research in Lyme prevention with Dr. Nicoletta Faraone
Learning how ticks smell to find their hosts leads to better prevention methods.
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Nicoletta Faraone, a chemical ecologist and natural product chemist Dr. Faraone is an associate professor in the chemistry department at Acadia University where she teaches biochemistry and natural product chemistry. Her research focuses on how ticks detect odours from hosts and how they respond to repellants. She designs and develops novel essential oil based tick repellant products using nanotechnology. Since 2019, Dr. Faraone has supervised more than 50 students, technicians, research students, postdocs, and has received more than two million dollars CAD to support her research.
Subjects covered
1:17 What drew Dr. Farone to study ticks and pests at Acadia university
2:39 The importance of tick prevention and education
3:28 How ticks find hosts
4:50 Tick and arachnid olfactory biology
6:45 How chemicals relate to smelling in biology
8:04 Tick hunting process
9:31 Ideal tick climate and climate change
10:26 Ticks in urban areas
11:01 How to collect ticks for research
12:16 How Dr. Farone keeps ticks alive for research
13:02 How to remove an embedded tick and tick mouth biology
14:58 Majority of tick bite case causes
15:52 Key symptoms of tick bite and lyme disease
18:22 Lyme disease and awareness
19:01 How doctors can improve Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment
20:23 Effective essential oils that repel ticks
22:00 Safety and avoiding tick pathogens
Further reading
- Acadia researcher finds that lemongrass oil is a natural tick repellent
- Arming us in our battle with ticks: ‘They will be always out there’
- Atlantick
- Nicoletta Faraone
About Nicoletta Faraone
Dr. Nicoletta Faraone is a Chemical Ecologist and a Natural Product Chemist. She holds a Bachelor in Science with Honour in Organic Chemistry from the University of Basilicata (Italy), a Master of Science in Natural Product Chemistry and PhD in Chemical Ecology from the University of Palermo (Italy). Dr. Faraone had extensive international postdoctoral training at Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia, Canada), Lund University (Sweden), and Acadia University (Nova Scotia, Canada). In 2019, she joined the Chemistry Department at Acadia University as a tenured-track assistant professor, and in May 2023, she was appointed as Associate Professor. She teaches Biochemistry and Natural Product Chemistry. Her research focuses on studying tick chemosensory system, how ticks detect odours from hosts and how they respond to repellents. She designs and develops novel essential oil-based tick repellent products using nanotechnology. Her research program provides critical tools and knowledge in advancing research in tick repellent development, and the ideal environment to establish and supporting local and national industrial partners. Since 2019, Dr. Faraone has supervised more than 50 students, technicians, research assistants, post-docs, and has received more than 2 million Canadian dollars to support her research.
