中山大学-密歇根州立大学热带病虫媒控制研究团队利用Wolbachia在伊蚊体内诱导的细胞质不兼容(CI)及抗菌肽基因的表达，阻断其疾病传播路径。团队2015年在广州沙仔岛的现场实验已获初步成功并得到国内外主流媒体的广泛报道。然而，实验的大面积推广仍需数学模型的数量化与预见性结果来指导。申请人作为团队成员，申请此项目旨在建立实验数据驱动的数学模型寻求适应于广州地区白纹伊蚊最优释放策略，评估杀虫剂抗性、CI抗性、随机环境和扩散对最优释放策略的影响。结合团队和美国、澳大利亚等国合作者的数据，估计蚊群的最优释放数量、释放频率、最佳时间和地点，为这一技术在广州及南非、墨西哥、东南亚等地区的成功实施提供数学支持。同时，采取数学与分子生物学、生物医学、统计学、计算机科学等多学科交叉，联合生物数学模型、数值模拟技术、实验验证等多技术的方法为数学研究提供有趣的生物问题及新颖的研究手段。

Sun Yat-Sen University-Michigan State University Joint Center of Vector Control For Tropical Disease aims to block the disease transmission by cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) and the expression of antimicrobial peptides genes induced by the bacterium Wolbachia in Aedes mosquitoes. The success of field trials started in 2015 was reported by the mainstream media both in China and abroad. However, the qualitative and predictable results obtained from mathematical models are necessary and intuitive before this strategy can be extended to large areas. As a team member, in this program, we aim to establish mathematical models driven by the field data to seek optimal release strategies for population suppression of Aedes albopictus in Guangzhou, to assess effects on the design of suppression strategies of insecticide resistance and CI resistance, and to introduce stochastic environments and mosquito diffusion into the models to find the optimal release strategies which combine population replacement and population suppression. Our results can lead our partners to design optimal release strategies on the minimal releasing number, the release frequency, and the choice of release timepoints and sites. We expect to provide mathematical support for the successful implementation of the control of mosquito-borne diseases in Guangzhou, South Africa, Mexico, and Southeast Asia etc. Also, by using the multi-disciplinary methods such as mathematics, molecular biology, biomedicine statistics, and computer science, etc, we combine the methods of biological modeling, numerical simulations with experimental verification, and we hope that the research in this program would offer interesting questions and innovative research methods in mathematical biology.