Crystal Loving

Crystal
Loving

USDA-ARS-National Animal Disease Center
Biography

Dr. Crystal Loving earned her BS in Zoology and PhD in Immunobiology at Iowa State University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Food and Drug Administration on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD. Her dissertation research investigated the innate immune response to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), with an emphasis on type I interferon and antigen presenting cells. Dr. Loving performed postdoctoral work on B. anthracis, developing a murine model to evaluate mechanisms of virulence and vaccine efficacy. In her position at the USDA-ARS-National Animal Disease Center, Dr. Loving’s research has focused on pig immune response to infection and vaccines for domestic pig diseases, with an emphasis on swine influenza virus and PRRSV. In the last few years, Dr. Loving’s lab has refocused efforts towards general pig health, with an emphasis on identifying methods to modulate immunity for improved disease resistance. In addition, her research includes investigating immune responses to different vaccines aimed at limiting colonization of foodborne pathogens in production animals. Overall, her work contributes understanding will lead to the development of intervention strategies to limit in-feed antibiotic use and colonization with foodborne pathogens, and limit disease burden in pigs.

Research interests

vaccines for diseases in domestic pigs; vaccine for foodborne pathogens across species.