Mauricio Seguel, DVM, PhD, DACVP
Associate Professor Pathobiology Department, School of Veterinary Medicine
Biography
Dr. Seguel is a wildlife pathologist and immunologist who studies how environmental variation shapes immune ontogeny and infection dynamics in wild mammals. He earned his veterinary degree from the Universidad Austral de Chile in 2010 and completed a residency in veterinary anatomic pathology at the University of Georgia in 2015, becoming a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists. From 2014 to 2017 he conducted field experiments on Guafo Island, Chile, for his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Georgia, investigating environmental and immune drivers of hookworm disease in fur seals.
In 2018 Dr. Seguel joined Dr. Vanessa Ezenwa’s lab in the Odum School of Ecology, developing immunological tools to study tuberculosis and helminth dynamics in African buffalo. In 2020 he moved to the Department of Pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, as an assistant professor. There, he mentored pathology residents and undergraduate and graduate students. In 2025 Dr Seguel joined the faculty of St. George’s University School of Veterinary Medicine as an associate professor. At SGU, Dr. Seguel directs the Wild Immunology Lab, which focuses on environmental drivers of immunotypes in wild mammals and their consequences for infectious-disease transmission.
Contact Information
Areas of Interest
- Immunology
- Wildlife diseases
- One health
- Infectious diseases
Affiliations
- Associate Professor: Pathobiology Department, School of Veterinary medicine, St George’s University
- Adjunct Professor: Pathobiology Department, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada
Selected Publications
- Wai Tsang W+, Wu K+, Fischbach J+, Zhang S+, Gomez A, Seguel M*. 2025. Mild to moderate lungworm (Metastronglyes spp.) infection is associated with marked Th2 inflammation in harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena). Developmental and Comparative Immunology. 170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dci.2025.105437
- Pérez-Venegas D, Montalva F, Molina-Burgos B.E, Chiang G, Harrod C, Pavés H, Sepúlveda M, Seguel M*. 2025. Maternal care strategies differentially optimize the health and immunity of male and female South American fur seal pups. Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology, 97. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/733793 (Cover of the Journal)
- Fischbach J+. & Seguel M*. 2023. A systematic review of the diversity and virulence correlates of metastrongyle lungworms in marine mammals. Parasitology. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0031182023001014
- Seguel M, Budischak S, Jolles A, Ezenwa V. 2023. Helminth-associated changes in host immune phenotype connect top-down and bottom-up interactions during co-infection. Functional Ecology https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2435.14237
- Seguel M*, Beechler B, Coon C, Snyder P.W, Spaan J.M, Jolles A.E, Ezenwa V.O. 2019. Immune stability predicts tuberculosis infection risk in a wild mammal. Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 286: 20191401. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.1401
- Seguel M*, Montalva, F., Perez-Venegas, D., Gutiérrez, J., Paves, H. J., Muller, A., Howerth E, Gottdenker, N. (2018). Immune mediated hookworm clearance and survival of a marine mammal decrease with warmer ocean temperatures. eLife, 7, 1–31. https://elifesciences.org/articles/38432
- Seguel M and Gottdenker N. The diversity and impact of hookworm infections in wildlife. (2017). International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife, 6: 177-194. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213224417300081
- Seguel M*, Muñoz F+, Navarrete MJ, Howerth E, Paredes E, Gottdenker N. (2017). Hookworm infection in South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) pups: pathology and factors associated with host tissue damage and mortality. Veterinary Pathology. Cover of the Journal (March 2017). 54: 288-297. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0300985816677151
Selected Projects
- Wildlife Immunotypes and their role in the emergence and transmission of zoonotic pathogens. One Health Research Initiative. Windward Islands Research and Education Foundation (WINDREF). OHRI 01-02-25. 2025-2028
- Sociable immunity: social networks and their microbiomes as spreaders of immunity. Canada Research Coordinating Committee. New frontiers in Research Fund- Exploration program (NFRFE-2022-00617). 2023-2026
- An infectious personality: immune personalities and their role in the transmission of wildlife infectious diseases. National Science and Engineering Research Council (Canada), Discovery Grant (2022-03457). 2022-2027
- Sea lions vs fur seals: Understanding the roots of sea lion predation of South American fur seals. National Geographic Explorers research grant. Level-I (EC-115186R-24). 2024-2025
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