“The Last of Us” is a popular video game that has now been developed into a popular show on HBO (Max). The premise of the show and video game is of a fungi-driven pandemic. Fungi infected "zombies" terrorize a post-apocalyptic world, people are infected through bites from infected individuals and infected individuals appear to be controlled by the fungus. How much of this is fact, fiction, is there room for both? This lecture will answer some of these questions and give you the foundation to answer these questions for others.

Dr. Paloma Vargas (she/they/ella) is the Dean of Mathematics, Science, Health Education, Kinesiology and Athletics at Oxnard College, a 2-year public Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). In her capacity as Dean, Dr. Vargas works with administration, faculty, and staff to determine best practices in serving diverse student populations. She often serves as a facilitator and trainer for faculty at Hispanic-Serving Institutions in centering equity with a particular focus on inclusivity in STEM and is an active member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Latinos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), and President of the Alliance of Hispanic-Serving Institute Educators (AHSIE).

Dr. Vargas previously served as a biology faculty member, researcher, HSI Director, Science Coordinator and STEM Advisor at private and public institutions. She earned her B.S. in Biology from the University of Texas at El Paso and El Paso Community College (HSIs), and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Medical and Molecular Parasitology from The Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at New York University. Her graduate and post-doctoral work focused on host-pathogen interactions of both parasitic amoeba (E. histolytica) and Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaire’s Disease.