Impact of malaria vector diversity on intervention strategies

项目总结 马拉维的疟疾负担是世界上最高的之一，尽管标准疟疾的覆盖率不断提高 过去二十年来的干预措施。导致寄生虫持续传播的一个因素是 疟疾媒介的多样性，但这种多样性的重要方面仍然没有得到很好的描述。《校长》 研究员罗伯特·麦肯博士是加州大学疟疾研究项目的病媒生物学家。 马里兰医学院。他将使用现场和实验室数据的组合以及先进的 通过三个具体目标来解决这些差距的计算方法。目标1将描述向量 我国两种主要疟疾媒介按蚊和阿拉伯按蚊的能力 马拉维，使用现场采集的An的试验性膜饲养试验。Funestus和An.阿拉伯。目标 2将评估媒介能力的物种水平差异对疟疾干预效果的影响 使用基于主体的随机模型比较疟疾干预效果 蚊虫对恶性疟原虫感染易感性的变异范围。目标3将决定这一关系 利用地理空间信息在非洲疟疾病媒的地理邻近性和遗传相关性之间的关系 估计疟疾病媒迁移模式的生物信息学工具。这些研究的结果将会有所改善 我们对疟疾寄生虫传播的持久性的理解。 麦肯博士的目标是成为媒介生态学的独立研究员，同时保持 在疟疾干预设计方面取得进展所需的强有力的跨学科合作， 实施和评估。为了实现这一目标，他提出了一个全面的职业发展计划 将加强他在疟疾病媒生态学方面的现有技能，同时提供实验方面的指导培训 感染分析，2)基于代理人的传染病建模，3)空间显式遗传和基因组分析， 4)专业发展，特别关注领先的国际研究。 麦肯博士组建了一支成就卓著的多学科导师团队， 具有独特专业知识领域的合作者，包括全球卫生研究、疟疾传播、媒介 生物学、基因组学和生物信息学、人口遗传学、传染病模型和地理空间科学。 他的导师也有成功指导实习生和初级教职员工的记录以及强大的人脉 与疟疾政策利益攸关方合作。马里兰大学医学院和疟疾警报中心 将共同为麦肯博士提供理想的环境，以建立一个研究利基，解决 在疟疾病媒生物学知识方面的重大差距将导致马拉维和 其他疟疾流行国家。

PROJECT SUMMARY The burden of malaria in Malawi is among the highest in the world despite increasing coverage of standard interventions over the last two decades. One factor that contributes to continued parasite transmission is the diversity of malaria vectors, yet important aspects of this diversity remain poorly characterized. The Principal Investigator, Dr. Robert McCann, is a vector biologist in the Malaria Research Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He will use a combination of field and laboratory data together with advanced computational methods to address these gaps through three specific aims. Aim 1 will characterize vector competence in Anopheles funestus and Anopheles arabiensis, the two dominant malaria vector species in Malawi, using experimental membrane feeding assays with field-collected An. funestus and An. arabiensis. Aim 2 will assess the impact of species-level variation in vector competence on malaria intervention effectiveness using an agent-based stochastic model to compare malaria intervention effectiveness under scenarios with a range of variation in mosquito susceptibility to P. falciparum infection. Aim 3 will determine the relationship between geographic proximity and genetic relatedness for malaria vectors in Africa using geospatially informed bioinformatics tools to estimate migration patterns of malaria vectors. The results from these studies will improve our understanding of the persistence of malaria parasite transmission. Dr. McCann’s goal is to become an independent investigator in vector ecology, while maintaining the strong interdisciplinary collaborations necessary to make advancements in malaria intervention design, implementation, and evaluation. Towards this goal, he proposes a comprehensive career development plan that will enhance his existing skills in malaria vector ecology while providing mentored training in 1) experimental infection assays, 2) agent-based infectious disease modeling, 3) spatially explicit genetic and genomic analyses, and 4) professional development with a special focus on leading international research. Dr. McCann has assembled a highly accomplished and multidisciplinary team of mentors and collaborators with unique areas of expertise including global health research, malaria transmission, vector biology, genomics and bioinformatics, population genetics, infectious disease modeling and geospatial science. His mentors also have a track record of successfully mentoring trainees and junior faculty and strong connections with malaria policy stakeholders. The University of Maryland School of Medicine and The Malaria Alert Center in Malawi will together provide the ideal environment for Dr. McCann to establish a research niche addressing critical gaps in knowledge about malaria vector biology that will lead to improved malaria control in Malawi and other malaria-endemic countries.