Stephen Higgs, Ph.D., F.R.E.S., F.A.S.T.M.H.

EducationHiggs Photo-2016

B.S., Zoology, (HONS) 1980
King’s College, London, UK
Ph.D., Parasitology, 1985
University of Reading, UK
Fellow, 1992
Royal Entomological Society
Fellow, 2012
American Society for Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene

Positions

Associate Vice President for Research
Director, Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI)
Peine Professor of Biosecurity
University Distinguished Professor, Diagnostic
Medicine & Pathobiology,
Kansas State University

Past-President, American Society for Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (2016)
Editor-in-Chief, Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases (2003 - present)

Tel: 785 532 1333
Fax: 785 532 0973

E-mail: shiggs@k-state.edu

My role at K-State

I joined Kansas State University in July 2011 as the Associate Vice President for Research and the Director of the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI). In these roles, I am committed to the strengthening of existing research and the development of new research, educational and training opportunities that has enabled the BRI to become an internationally recognized center for research on all aspects of animal and plant diseases, food safety and security, and related public health issues. As the only K-State facility approved for research on high-consequence pathogens, the BRI is uniquely aligned with the K-State Economic Prosperity Plan's focus areas of Biosecurity and Biodefense, and Food and Agriculture Systems inovation. With K-State faculty, local and federal Government agencies, the U.S. military and public and private-sector groups from the United States and overseas, our work expands biosafety, biosecurity and biocontainment research and educational programs. The BRI’s state-of-the-art training facilities and our staff are an integral component of the BRI’s success that establishes the next generation of expertise in these fields. The BRI training facility allows students the opportunity to train for, successfully compete for, and pursue diverse and exciting careers. The BRI training facility is also available for training for our partners.

With interdisciplinary biosecurity research programs, agrosecurity initiatives and the development of collaborative research, the BRI is the all-important platform to assist the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to enable the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) to become fully operational. Since 2015 we have been involved in the training of NBAF’s scientists, technicians and operations/maintenance staff. NBAF’s research is primarily performed at the BRI. The long-established expertise in many K-State academic colleges and departments, and the presence of multiple groups, for example, the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infections Diseases (CEZID) and the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center (NABC), ensures the safe, secure continuance of our Nation’s research on potential threats to our agricultural and food industries and related public health.

Administration Experience

Since 2003, I have been the Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases and am on the Editorial Board of Health Security (formerly Biosecurity and Bioterrorism. Biodefense Strategy, Practice and Science). I am the Past-President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2016), ex-Chairman of the Society’s Education Committee, ex-Chairman of the Policy and Advocacy Committee, a member of the Membership Committee, a member of the Subcommittee on Arbovirus Laboratory Safety (SALS) and a member of the Subcommittee on the Evaluation of Arthropod-borne Status (SEAS). As a past Chairman of the American Committee for Medical Entomology, I helped to develop containment guidelines for both vectors and the agents they transmit at different biosafety levels. These guidelines are internationally accepted as a standard for safe, secure research on arthropods that vector a variety of pathogens.

Educational Activity

At Kansas State University, I have served as chair or as a member of numerous student Ph.D. Committees. Former students have successful careers in vector-borne infectious diseases at facilities such as the CDC's Division of Vector-Borne and Infectious Disease, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and numerous Universities. In 2025, I was appointed as a Presidential Engagement Fellow, with the purpose of bringing university excellence directly to communities across the state.

International Activity

In addition to collaborating with research scientists overseas and participating in international symposia, I have been a member of external review panels for several international agencies including: the Singapore Government’s Environmental Health Institute, Wellcome Trust, Canada Foundation for Innovation, Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Animal, Food and Health Sciences, and the Institute Pasteur. International honors include: the 51st Bailey K. Ashford Memorial Lecturer, and the Sanofi Pasteur Award for “Outstanding contribution to research and development of the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine.", In 2022 I was co-recipient of the BIAL Award in Biomedicine for the most significant publication over a 10-year period.

Research

My group’s research focusing on mosquito vectors and arthropod-borne viruses has an influential scope and scale that might be broader than that of any other group in this field. Our collaborative philosophy for research is reflected in 225 peer-reviewed publications with over 800 different co-authors. With 27,775 citations, my Google Scholar h-index is 88 with an i10-index of 207. Our current research focuses on foreign disease threats to the U.S. and includes studies to evaluate vaccines for Japanese encephalitis.

As described below, specific accomplishments related to vectors include pioneering work that subsequently has become mainstays of research on vectors and vector-borne diseases. Collaborations with investigators at academic institutions, government agencies, and at biotechnology companies on Zika virus (ZIKV) involved mosquito infections and non-human primate challenges for vaccine evaluation. Data were published in Science, Science Translational Medicine, Nature Scientific Reports and Nature Medicine. Work to evaluate an mRNA vaccine platform was recognized by the BIAL Award in Biomedicine for most significant publication over a 10-year period for “Zika virus protection by a single low dose nucleoside modified mRNA vaccination” (Nature, 2017). The lead researchers for this work received the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 2023. At K-State, the group has performed the first U.S. research on Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in mosquitoes since the 1940’s, the first ever U.S. studies on JEV in domestic and feral-phenotype swine, and of the emerging Usutu virus in mosquitoes.

Since 1985 we have been studying interactions between Aedes and Culex mosquitoes with multiple viruses, including chikungunya, dengue, La Crosse, Japanese encephalitis, o’nyong-nyong, Sindbis, West Nile, yellow fever and Zika. We have worked with genetically engineered viruses to express or knock out homologous genes and heterologous genes to better understand the mechanisms of the infection process. This includes research evaluating mosquito sensitivity to potential new control approaches and making mosquitoes refractory to infection with viruses. Infectious clones were used to study the basis of species specificity and attenuation of live attenuated vaccines in mosquitoes. We were the first to express fluorescent protein in mosquitoes that ultimately became the markers of choice for screening genetically manipulated mosquitoes. The Higgs white eyed strain of Aedes aegypti developed in 1995 has been used by researchers in many countries. A quantitative PCR for WNV in mosquitoes was published in 2004, and in 2005, we demonstrated a new arbovirus transmission mode (or model) from non-viremic hosts, which had previously never been reported for mosquitoes. Collaborative research investigated the influence of infection on mosquito gene expression, whilst studies with vertebrate hosts demonstrated the powerful influences of mosquito saliva on the establishment of viral infections and severity of diseases. Our research on chikungunya virus preceded the multi-country epidemics that infected over 1M people in the Americas. Notably, our group developed an infectious clone of chikungunya virus and published the definitive paper on chikungunya that demonstrated a single amino acid change could increase infectivity of Aedes albopictus by 100-fold. To this date, twenty years later, we still receive request for our infectious clones from researchers. In response to an urgent need for educational information, we edited a multi-author book on Chikungunya and Zika viruses. In 2020 we performed the first and definitive experiments to demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 did not infect three important species of mosquito.

Research on the molecular determinants of yellow fever virus vaccine restriction in mosquitoes resulted in numerous publications and a Sanofi Pasteur Award for our “Outstanding contribution to research and development of the Sanofi Pasteur dengue vaccine.”

Graduates from my laboratory have been employed at CDC Puerto Rico, Duke University, Institute Pasteur in Paris, University of North Carolina, University of California-Berkeley, and Kansas State University.

Selected Recent Publications

Books edited (total 3):

Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., and Powers, A. (editors). Chikungunya and Zika Viruses: Global Emerging Health Threats. 1st edition. Elsevier Academic Press, 398pp. 2018. eBook ISBN: 9780128118665. Paperback ISBN: 9780128118658.

Selected book chapters (total 25):

  1. Vanlandingham, D.L., Higgs, S., (2021) Viruses and their potential for bioterrorism. Encyclopedia of Virology 4th edition doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-809633-8.11007-6.
  2. Higgs, S. and Vanlandingham, D.L. (2018). Chikungunya Virus and Zika Virus Transmission Cycles. Chapter 2 in Chikungunya and Zika Viruses: Global Emerging Health Threats, 1st Edition, pp. 15-68. Elsevier Academic Press. eBook ISBN: 9780128118665. Paperback ISBN: 9780128118658
  3. Huang, Y-J.S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Higgs, S. (2018). Viral Genetics of Chikungunya Virus and Zika Virus and Its Influence in Their Emergence and Application for Public Health Control Strategies. Chapter 8 in Chikungunya and Zika Viruses: Global Emerging Health Threats, 1st Edition, pp. 237-291. Elsevier Academic Press. . eBook ISBN: 9780128118665. Paperback ISBN: 9780128118658.

Selected articles in peer reviewed journals (total 225):

  1. Hansen, C.A., Rast, S., Thompson, J.K., Hao, H., Jupiter, D., Higgs, S., Bourne, N., & Barrett, A.D.T. (in press). The yellow fever virus type-specific epitope recognized by monoclonal antibody 2D12 neutralizes wild type, but not live attenuated 17D or French neurotropic vaccine strains. Vaccines.
  2. Matheny, A., Hettenbach, S., Ake, A., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2026). A review of Japanese encephalitis vaccines with respect to potential veterinary use. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis, 15303667261434503. doi: 10.1177/15303667261434503. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41879169.
  3. Wang, Y., Galkin, A., Shang, X., Marin, A., Jin, S., Ye, T-J., Bale, S., Chiang, C-I., Chowdhury, A., Chenine, A., Turonis, A., Greenhouse, J., Kar, S., Andersen, H., Huang, Y-J.S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Higgs, S., Lapidus, R. G., Fuerst, T., Weber, D.J., Iffland, C., Pierson, T.C., Andrianov, A.K., Pozharski, E., & Li, Y. (2026). Rational Design of Flavivirus E Protein Vaccine Optimizes Immunogenicity and Mitigates Antibody Dependent Enhancement Risk. Nat Commun, 16(1):11558. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67447-4. PMID: 41429771; PMCID: PMC12748774.
  4. De Souza, M.O., Saunders, D., Miller, A., Fahad, A.S., Timm, MR., Dowd, K.D., Madan, B., Wolfe, J., Normandin, E., Henry, A.R., Laboune, F., Petrova, Y.., Misasi, J., Lima., T.M., Alvim, RGF., Sanchez, E.M., Burgomaster, K.E., Pan., X., Vanlandingham, D.L., Higgs, S., Douek., D.C., Ledgerwood, J.E., Graham, B.S., Mascola, J.R., Pierson, T.C., Castilho, L.R., Kuhn, R.J., Huang, Y-J.S., & DeKosky J. (2025). Potent monoclonal antibodies against circulating yellow fever virus strains from donors immunized with the 17D vaccine. Am J Trop Med Hyg, 114(1):174-184. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.25-0057. PMID: 41666427; PMCID: PMC12781362.
  5. Higgs, S. & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2025) One Health research at the Biosecurity Research Institute. One Health, 20:100837. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2024.100837.
  6. Landers, R.S.M., Hodgson, P., Puckette, M., Chaki, S.P., Wilson, W., Higgs, S., & Zuelke, K.A. (2025). Retrospective case study of the impacts of multiple One Health oriented biocontainment research facilities during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. One Health, 20:101061. doi: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2025.101061. PMID: 40630110; PMCID: PMC12235735.
  7. Michel, K., Loeger, N.M., Ake, A.M., Hettenbach, S.M., Olds, C., Pendell, D.L., Stack, J., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2025). Understanding the burden of agriculturally significant vector-borne and parasitic diseases in Kansas. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 25(7):429-443. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2025.0023. Epub 2025 Apr 26. PMID: 40285460; PMCID: PMC12394814.
  8. Higgs, S., Hettenbach, S.M., Ake, A.M., Loerger, N.M., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2025). A Review of West Nile as a cause of human disease in Kansas. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 25(6):367-376. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2024.0104. Epub 2025 Mar 13. PMID: 40080422.
  9. Higgs, S. (2024). COVID 2019 - A personal account of an academic institute’s response to the pandemic. COVID, 4(7):1061-71. doi: 10.3390/covid4070073.
  10. McLaury, A.R., Haun, B.K., To, A., Mayerlen, L., Medina, L.O., Lai, C-Y S. Wong, T.A., Nakano, E., Strange, D., Aquino, D., Huang, Y-J.S., Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Garcia, A., Berestecky, J., & Lehrer, A.T. (2024). Characterization of Two Highly Specific Monoclonal Antibodies Targeting the Glycan Loop of the Zika Virus Envelope Protein. Viral Immunol, 37(3):167-175. doi: 10.1089/vim.2023.0153. Epub 2024 Apr 4. PMID: 38574259; PMCID: PMC11040186.
  11. Chen, G-H., Dai, Y-C., Hsieh, S-C., Tsai, J-J., Sy, A.K., Jiz, M., Pedroso, C., Brites, C., Netto, E.M., Kanki, P.J., Saunders, D.R.D., Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Huang, Y-J.S., & Wang, W-K. (2024). Detection of anti-premembrane antibody as a specific marker of four flavivirus serocomplexes and its application to serosurveillance in endemic regions. Emerg Microbes and Infect, 13(1):2301666. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2023.2301666. Epub 2024 Jan 22. PMID: 38163752; PMCID: PMC10810658.
  12. Maloney, B.E., Carpio K.L, Bilyeu, A.N., Saunders, D.R., Park, S.L., Pohl, A.E., Costa Ball, N., Huang, C.Y., Higgs, S., Barrett, A.D., Roman-Sosa, G., Kenney, J.L., Vanlandingham, D.L., & Huang, Y-J.S. (2023). Identification of the flavivirus conserved residues in the envelope protein hinge regions for the rational design of a candidate West Nile live-attenuated vaccine. NPJ Vaccines, 8(1):172. doi: 10.1038/s41541-023-00765-0. PMID: 37932282; PMCID: PMC10628263.
  13. Park, S.L., Huang, Y.S., Lyons, A.C., Ayers, V.B., Hettenbach, S.M., McVey, D.S., Noronha, L.E., Burton, K.R., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2023). Infection of cross-bred feral swine with Japanese encephalitis virus. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 23(12):645-652. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2023.0030. Epub 2023 Sep 7. PMID: 37672628; PMCID: PMC10698774.
  14. Ayers, V.B., Huang, Y-J.S., Kohl, A., Dunlop, J.L., Hettenbach, S.M., Park, S.L., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2023). Comparison of immunogenicity between a candidate live attenuated vaccine and an inactivated vaccine for Cache Valley virus. Viral Immunol, 36(1):41-47. doi: 10.1089/vim.2022.0103. PMID: 36622942.
  15. Rush, B.R., Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., & Richt, J.A. (2022). The future of biocontainment research at Kansas State University. Am J Vet Res, 83(8):ajvr.22.06.0097. doi: 10.2460/ajvr.22.06.0097. PMID: 35895788.
  16. Ayers, V.B., Huang, Y-J.S., Dunlop, J.L., Kohl, A., Brennan, B., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2022). Immunogenicity of a live attenuated vaccine for Rift Valley fever virus with a two-segmented genome. Viral Immunol, 36(1):33-40. doi: 10.1089/vim.2022.0104. Epub 2022 Nov 18. PMID: 36399689; PMCID: PMC9885543.
  17. Williams, C.R., Webb, C.E., Higgs, S., & Van den Hurk, A.F. (2022). Japanese encephalitis virus emergence in Australia: Public health importance and implications for future surveillance. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 22:(11):529–534. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2022.0037. PMID: 36354964.
  18. Ayers, V.B., Huang, Y-J.S., Dunlop, J.L., Kohl, A., Brennan, B., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2022). Replication kinetics of a candidate live-attenuated vaccine for Cache Valley virus in Aedes albopictus. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 22(11):553-558. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2022.053. PMID: 36354965.
  19. Higgs, S., Huang, Y-J.S., Hettenbach, S.M., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 and arthropods: A review. Viruses, 14(5):985. doi: 10.3390/v14050985. PMID: 35632727.
  20. Davis, E.H., Wang, B., White, M., Huang, Y-J.S., Sarathy, V.V., Wang, T., Bourne, N., Higgs, S., & Barrett, A.D.T. (2022). Impact of yellow fever virus envelope protein on wild-type and vaccine epitopes and tissue tropism. NPJ Vaccines, 7(1):39. doi 10.1038/s41541-022-00460-6. PMID: 35322047.
  21. Higgs, S. (2022). An introduction to containment recommendations for gene drive mosquitoes and the laboratory rearing of genetically engineered mosquitoes in Africa. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 22(1):1-2. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2021.0072. PMID: 34995158.
  22. Park, S.L., Huang, Y-J.S., Lyons, A.C., Ayers, V.B., Hettenbach, S.M., McVey, D.S., Noronha, L.E., Burton, K.R., Hsu, W., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2021). Mosquito saliva modulates Japanese encephalitis virus infection in domestic pigs. Front Virol, 1. doi: 10.3389/fviro.2021.724016.
  23. Huang, Y-J.S., Bilyeu, A.N., Hsu, W-W., Hettenbach, S.M., Willix, J.L., Stewart, S.C., Higgs, S., & Vanlandingham, D.L. (2021). Treatment with dry hydrogen peroxide accelerates the decay of severe acute syndrome coronavirus-2 on non-porous hard surfaces. Am J Infect Control, 49(10):1252-1255. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2021.07.006. Epub 2021 Jul 15. PMID: 34273464; PMCID: PMC8279916.
  24. Kniazeva V., Baysal, O., Krasko, A., Iwaniak, W., & Higgs, S. (2021). The prevalence and genetic characterization of strains of Borrelia isolated from Ixodes tick vectors in Belarus (2012-2019). Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 21(8):566-572. doi:10.1089/vbz.2021.0006. PMID: 34077696.
  25. Higgs, S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Huang, Y-J.S., & Thangamani, S. (2022). The use of arthropod-borne challenge models in BSL-3Ag and BSL-4 biocontainment. ILAR J, 61(1):18-31. doi: 10.1093/ilar/ilab013. PMID: 33951733.
  26. Romanenko, T., Hunchenko, N., Kharkhun, T., Kardupel, L., Honcharenko, L., & Higgs, S. (2021). Surveillance of mosquitoes (Diptera, Culicidae) in Kyiv, Ukraine between 2013 and 2017. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 21(3): 200-7. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2666. PMID: 33434100.
  27. Kniazeva, V., Pogotskaya, U., Higgs, S., & Krasko, A (2021). The prevalence of different human pathogenic microorganisms transmitted in Ixodes tick vectors in Belarus. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Dis, 21(1):6-10. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2020.2675. PMID: 33107810.
  28. Huang, Y-J.S., Vanlandingham, D.L., Bilyeu, A.N., Sharp, H.M., Hettenbach, S.M. & Higgs, S. (2020). SARS-CoV-2 failure to infect or replicate in mosquitoes: An extreme challenge. Sci Rep, 10(1):11915. doi: 10/1038/s41598-020-68882-7. PMID: 32681089.
  29. Burke, C.W., Wiley, M.R., Beitzel, B.F., Gardner, C.L., Huang, Y-J.S., Piper, A.E., Vanlandingham, D.L., Higgs, S., Palacios, G. & Glass, P.J. (2020). Complete coding sequence of western equine encephalitis virus strain Fleming, isolated from a human case. Microbiol Resour Announc, 9(1): e01223-19. doi: 10.1128/MRA.01223-19. PMID: 31896634.