Charissa de Bekker is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Her lab uses an integrative research approach to unravel the mechanisms that underly parasite manipulation of host behavior, both from the host and the parasite perspective. She uses the so-called zombie ants (ants infected and manipulated by fungi) as a model for these studies. Dr. de Bekker has been granted an NSF CAREER award and an ERC Consolidator grant to conduct her research.
