Biologist · Physiologist · Herpetologist

Dr. Vania
Assis

Assistant Professor at the University of West Alabama. Exploring the interrelationships between stress, behavior, and immunity in amphibians and wildlife.

About me → Get in Touch
Dr. Vania Assis
40+Publications
700+Citations
18+Years Research
4Institutions

Research Areas

🐸

Amphibian Ecoimmunology

How stress hormones modulate immune function in anurans under natural and experimental conditions.

5 publications
🦠

Lyme Disease & Host Immunity

Investigating Borrelia burgdorferi via epigenetic and immune mechanisms in Peromyscus hosts.

2 publications
🌡️

Stress, Behavior & Reproduction

Interplay between corticosterone, testosterone, and calling behavior in Neotropical frogs.

3 publications
🧫

Flow Cytometry in Amphibians

Developing Flowsight cytometry protocols to characterize immune cell phenotypes in amphibians.

2 publications
💊

Corticosterone Methods

Validating transdermal CORT application as a non-invasive tool to simulate physiological stress.

3 publications
🌿

Conservation Physiology

Applying physiological tools to monitor wild amphibian populations and assess disease resilience.

3 publications

Affiliations & Partners

University of West Alabama
University of South Florida (USF Tampa)
University of São Paulo (USP)
UNESP
FAPESP
CNPq
Royal Society — Phil Trans B
Wiley — Editorial Board

Contact

Get in touch

vdeassis@uwa.edu
Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences
University of West Alabama — Livingston, AL, USA
ORCID Google Scholar Lattes CNPq Web of Science ResearchGate LinkedIn 𝕏 Twitter FAPESP

Send a message

To activate: go to forms.google.com, create your contact form, click Send → <> Embed, and replace this block with the iframe code.

Example:
<iframe src="https://docs.google.com/forms/..." height="520"></iframe>

Create Google Form →
← Back to home

About

Dr. Vania Regina de Assis

I am a biologist, physiologist, and herpetologist exploring the interrelationships between stress, behavior and immunity. My research uses comparative physiology approaches to understand how glucocorticoids modulate immune function in amphibians and wildlife, with implications for conservation biology and disease ecology.

Currently, as an Assistant Professor at the University of West Alabama, I am investigating the causative agent of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) using epigenetic and immune mechanisms in two of the most abundant and broadly distributed competent hosts in North America: Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus.

I use cellular (phagocytosis, white blood cell profiles) and humoral (complement system, natural antibodies, cytokines) immune variables alongside endocrine markers such as plasma corticosterone and testosterone levels.

EcoimmunologyDisease EcologyBehavioral EndocrinologyConservation PhysiologyStress BiologyHerpetologyAmphibiansLyme Disease
Academic Background

Post-Doctoral Research

University of South Florida (USF Tampa), 2025

Post-Doctoral Research

University of São Paulo (USP), 2020

PhD — General Physiology

University of São Paulo (USP), 2015

MSc — General Physiology

University of São Paulo (USP), 2010

BSc — Biological Sciences

UNESP, 2007

← Back to home

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and special issues

All Amphibian Ecoimmunology Lyme Disease Stress & Behavior Flow Cytometry Corticosterone Methods Conservation
Google Scholar → Web of Science → ORCID →
← Back to home

Students & Mentees

Current and former graduate and undergraduate researchers

--

Name — to be added

PhD

--

Name — to be added

MSc

--

Name — to be added

Undergrad Research

* Student information will be updated soon.

← Back to home

Gallery

Field work, lab, conferences and team

🔬Lab work
🐸Field collection
🎤Conference
🌿Fieldwork
👩‍🔬Team in the field
📚Mentoring
🎓Thesis defense

📸 Photos coming soon.