US-Rwanda Planning Visit: Developing Research on Integrated Vector Control of Blood-Sucking Insects, July 2007

这一奖项将促进伊利诺伊大学教职员工团队和一名研究生访问卢旺达，该团队由Ibuaimu Kakoma博士领导，目的是规划合作研究。这一合作对美国和卢旺达的科学进步具有巨大的潜力，特别是在生物多样性和昆虫传播疾病媒介的地理模式方面的研究。这次访问恰逢卢旺达政府主办的第一届国际生物多样性和自然资源国际会议。规划访问小组将会见政府官员，包括科学和技术部长，会见卢旺达大学人员，并会见来自不同职业的社区成员。访问小组将特别关注作为疾病传播媒介的吸血昆虫。这些病媒传播的疾病构成了联合国指定的前6种疾病。非洲仍然极易感染许多可预防的疾病，包括病媒传播的疾病。这些疾病不仅在非洲和国际上对人类公共卫生产生影响，而且在地方、区域和全球各级也具有重要的经济意义。这项合作在将生态学家和地理信息系统(地理信息系统)研究人员聚集在一起，通过识别、绘制蚊子幼虫阶段隔离区域的地图和土地使用模式来制定综合媒介控制战略方面具有创新性。稍后，这些技术将适用于其他媒介，如采采蝇和扁虱。

This award will facilitate the visit to Rwanda of a team of University of Illinois faculty members and a graduate student, led by Dr. Ibulaimu Kakoma, for the purpose of planning collaborative research. This collaboration holds great potential for the advancement of U.S. and Rwandan science, particularly in research on biodiversity and on the geographic patterns of insect vectors of disease. The visit coincides with an international scientific gathering, the First International Conference on Biodiversity and Natural Resources, sponsored by the Government of Rwanda. The planning visit team will meet with government officials, including the Minister of Science and Technology, with Rwandan university personnel, and also with community members from various occupations. The visiting team will focus especially on blood-sucking insects that act as vectors in the transmission of diseases. Such vector-borne diseases constitute the top 6 diseases designated by the United Nations. Africa is still extremely vulnerable to many preventable diseases, including vector-borne diseases. These diseases have both human public health impact in Africa and internationally and also economic significance at local, regional and global level. The collaboration is innovative in bringing together ecologists and geographic information systems (GIS) researchers to develop integrated vector control strategies through the identification, mapping and land use patterns of areas of sequestration of larval stages of mosquitoes. The techniques later will be adapted to other vectors such as tsetse flies and ticks.