The gnatwork: building capacity for research on neglected tropical vectors

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The vector-borne disease challenge this network addresses is to develop multidisciplinary techniques that can be used in research across three neglected vector groups: biting midges, sandflies and blackflies. These groups are responsible for the transmission of internationally important pathogens worldwide and disproportionately impact upon countries receiving official development assistance from the UK. At present, communication between communities studying midges, sandflies and blackflies is almost non-existent for a wide variety of reasons, mostly associated with differences in the type of pathogens each group transmits and the host in which they cause disease. The single most important bottleneck shared in research of all these haematophagous insects, however, is their small body size. This imposes constraints on a vast range of research areas from behavioural ecology to genomics and often precludes recruitment of new workers due to their perceived difficulty as subjects. When combined with fluctuations in funding that are an intrinsic factor in pathogen research this creates a significant challenge in retaining a critical mass of researchers, particularly in countries where medical and veterinary priorities change rapidly. By bringing together workers in two countries where research is relevant to development, we can make significant progress in translating techniques across all three vector groups and build a more resilient research base for these groups.The network management board contains acknowledged and established experts on biting midges, sandflies and blackflies and early career researchers with an equal gender balance. We will initially base the project in Bangladesh and Brazil where there are existing communities of workers on all three groups that remain entirely disconnected. We have therefore recruited management leads for both Brazil and Bangladesh who will work with the Director and co-Director to bring together workers through project meetings. At these meetings, we will use workshops to train students and early career researchers with a pragmatic approach in establishing a sufficient baseline of expertise to improve working practices. Areas that we feel can be significantly improved are in experimental design, taxonomy of insect fauna and practical fieldwork projects. We have also focussed on epidemiological techniques that share similarities between the groups including the analysis of surveillance data on spatial and temporal levels. As part of the network, we will also fund six catalyst projects of up to £100k across two calls. The aim of these projects will be to provide validated approaches for techniques that can be used across the three vector groups and potentially extended to others. There will be a clear emphasis during these projects in providing data quickly to as broad a proportion of the community as possible as the aim is to underpin larger collaborative applications. There will be a requirement for at least a proportion of each study to be conducted in either Brazil, or Bangladesh, or both countries. The development of south-south relationships will be a feature of the project as communities studying these vector communities in the two countries have few current lines of collaboration and face similar logistical issues in implementing research in the field. The use of students and early career researchers in these research projects will be encouraged and each will have a high profile on the network website to enhance career prospects.