John R. Moriarity

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Papers

Total Citations

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About

John R. Moriarity has made meaningful contributions to the field of tick-borne disease surveillance and molecular diagnostics, with a research focus on developing efficient methods for processing large volumes of biological samples. His most notable work centers on the application of high-throughput laboratory technologies to entomological research — an area that was previously underserved by existing molecular tools. Moriarity's key contribution, published in 2005, introduced an innovative method for extracting DNA from ticks using a liquid-handling robot and 96-well plate format. Prior to this work, high-throughput DNA extraction kits designed for blood and tissue samples had not been adapted for use with ticks, creating a significant bottleneck in disease surveillance efforts. By bridging this gap, his research enabled researchers to screen tick populations for pathogens at a far greater scale and speed than previously possible — a critical advancement for monitoring the spread of tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease. With citations accumulated across multiple records of this work, Moriarity's methodology has provided a practical and reproducible framework that continues to inform laboratory protocols in vector biology and public health research, particularly for scientists working at the intersection of field ecology and molecular epidemiology.