Overview
Research in my lab focuses on vector-borne diseases, especially those transmitted by mosquitoes, such as malaria and various arboviral diseases. We are mostly interested in understanding how the mosquito immune system interacts with and controls infections with pathogens. Current research includes the characterisation of the mosquito midgut as an integrated system for the dissection of mucosal immune responses and homeostasis, the characterisation of the mosquito systemic immune response against malaria parasites and viruses, and the genetic modification of mosquitoes that are refractory to infection and can be used in population replacement strategies to reduce disease transmission using gene drive. We are also studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms facilitating pathogen development and replication within the vectors, especially how pathogens evade or endure the vector immune response.
Funding
CURRENT
Ensuring Access and Effective Use of Clinical & Epidemiological Datasets, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Transmission Zero renewal - testing anti-P. falciparum effectors in the field, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Investigation of the impact of the mosquito immune system on shaping the transmitted malaria parasite populations, Medical Research Council.
Integrated Informatics Resources for Eukaryotic Microbial Pathogens and Invertebrate Vectors of Disease (VEuPathDB), National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases / National Institutes of Health.
PAST
Investigator Award: Anopheles-Plasmodium interactions: mosquito immune response and parasite immune evasion strategies, Wellcome Trust.
Bridging funding to Gene Drive: Engineering, evaluation and drive of antimalarial population replacement traits in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae (Transmission Zero), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Enabling the testing of transmission blocking traits of transgenic mosquitoes in Tanzania, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,
Gene Drive: Engineering, evaluation and drive of antimalarial population replacement traits in the mosquito Anopheles gambiae, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
VectorBase: A bioinformatics Resource Centre for Invertebrate Vectors of Human Pathogens, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases / National Institutes of Health.
Establishment of a model experimental system for dissecting Anopheles darlingi interactions with Plasmodium vivax in Brazil, Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development.
Mobility Seed fund to develop a lab system to study Plasmodium vivax transmission and interactions with the vector, Imperial College London – FAPESP.
Mechanisms of mosquito gut homeostasis and the role of NF-kappaB signalling, The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Functional and population genomics of the Anopheles innate immune system and its interactions with malaria parasites, Wellcome Trust.
EviMALaR: European Virtual Institute for Malaria Research, European Commission.
InfraVec: Research capacity for the implementation of genetic control of mosquitoes, European Commission.
TransMalariaBloc: Blocking the transmission of malaria: the mosquito vector target, European Commission.
CISBIC: Centre for Integrative Systems Biology at Imperial College, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Programme on Functional genomics analysis of Anopheles gambiae innate immunity and interaction with the malaria parasite, Wellcome Trust.
Genomic analysis of NF-kappaB signalling in Anopheles gambiae, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Effects of the Anopheles gambiae immune system on transmission of the human parasite Plasmodium falciparum, UNICEF/UNDP/WORLD BANK/ WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Research.