After receiving her PhD from the Institute of Parasitology at Macdonald Campus of McGill University, Marilyn spent two years at Imperial College, London, UK doing postdoctoral research in experimental parasite epidemiology. She returned to the Institute of Parasitology as an Assistant Professor in 1982. She was Director of the Institute of Parasitology from 1990-2000 and Director of the McGill School of Environment from 2008-2013. She is currently Professor of Parasitology and Associate Dean (Academic) for the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Through her career, she has trained 46 graduate students and 6 post-doctoral fellows, and has published 1 book, 16 review articles and book chapters, and over 100 original articles. She was the 1991 recipient of the Henry Baldwin Ward Medal from the American Society of Parasitologists for her contributions to the field by a researcher under the age of 40. In 2006, she received the Robert Wardle Award from the Canadian Society of Zoologists (Parasitology Section) for outstanding contributions by a Canadian to parasitology. She was the recipient of both the Macdonald Campus and the Principal’s Prize for Teaching Excellence in 2011.

Animals are host to a wide variety of parasites. Although people used to think that successful parasites did no harm to their hosts. Only those parasites that obviously caused disease or death were considered of relevance to the ecology of their host. Now, however, we understand that parasites lead to subtle, but important, changes that make a difference for the life of the infected individual, the infected host population and the community and ecosystem in which that host-parasite system is embedded. Our research explores the ways in which parasites influence their hosts, and the implications for their host populations. The long-term objective of my research program is to understand host-parasite population dynamics using experimental and field epidemiology and theoretical studies. Through my research, I explore factors relevant to, and consequences of, parasite control methods applied at the level of the host population or community.