Rafal Tokarz, PhD, is an Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Infection and Immunity, Columbia University. His research focuses on microbial discovery and the epidemiology of human infectious diseases, with a primary emphasis on studies of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Dr. Tokarz earned his PhD at Stony Brook University, prior to becoming a junior faculty member at Columbia University. He has been an author on thirty-six peer-reviewed manuscripts and has worked in the Lyme disease field for sixteen years.