At WashU Medicine, virologist Jacco Boon, PhD, Division of Infectious Diseases, is turning his attention to a growing but often overlooked public health concern: tick-borne viruses in Missouri and across the Midwest.
Boon’s path to studying some of the world’s smallest—and most complex—infectious agents began long before his work in Missouri. Originally from the Netherlands, he developed an early fascination with how viruses behave and evolve, drawn to the idea that microscopic organisms could have such an outsized impact on human health.