ABOUT:
Develop novel control interventions and discover insecticide-resistance-breaking compound
Expand the level of inter-institute/inter-agency coordination and partnership in the exchange of research and operational information in the Southeast
Establish a comprehensive, three-tiered training program for public health entomologists and students throughout the Southeast
Provide an evidence-based set of recommendations for a locally-tailored surveillance-response program in the form of a decision-making tool
Our Projects
PROJECT 1| Understanding vector ecology, arbovirus infection rates and insecticide resistance to optimize mosquito control
Aim 1: Investigate Aedes vector ecology and arbovirus infection rates in Miami-Dade County urban environments
Aim 2: Focus on Highly Attractive Biological Insecticide Traps (HABITraps)
Aim 3: Power vector control tools with strategies to circumvent insecticide resistance
Aim 4: Investigation of naturally occurring Wolbachia infections in Aedes aegypti populations in Florida
PROJECT 2 | Wintertime transmission of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEEV) in Florida
Photo: Airman st Class Devin S. Michaels
Aim 1: Understanding factors determining risk for wintertime EEEV transmission
Aim 2: Biological determinates of wintertime EEEV transmission
Aim 3: Alternative mechanisms of EEEV transmission
PROJECT 3 | Ecological and insecticide-resistance models of tick vectors in Florida
Aim 1: High-resolution spatial map of the Florida landscape of ticks
Aim 2: Distribution, prevalence, and risk of tick-borne pathogens
Aim 3: Characterize occurrence and possible mechanisms of acaricidal resistance in the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum
Aim 4: Brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, dynamics and impacts of acaricide resistance
PROJECT 4 | Multi-scale, modular models for Vector-Borne Disease (VBD)
Aim 1: Develop fine-grained behavioral descriptions of transmission for important disease vector species.
Aim 2: Reconcile risk maps of transmission of Dengue, Chikungunya, Zika and arthropod-borne pathogens using models of vector abundance, information from endemic countries, travel data and past incidence and test using mechanistic models.
Aim 3: Develop models of the microscale transmission dynamics of mosquito-borne viral pathogens.
Aim 4: Develop utilities for optimal VBD surveillance study designs.