Dr. Bigger's research spans in the following fields: Comparative Immunology, invertebrate pathology and disease, marine mammal cytokines, sponge immunity and pathology, histopathology of gorgonian coral adaptive alloimmune response, molecular genetic basis of the immunological responses of a gorgonian coral, environmental influences on wound healing, and histocompatibility in gorgonian corals. Although research has been conducted with a wide variety of animals, the current research is focused on the immunology of a Gorgonian Coral, working from the organismal to molecular levels.