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Hawaiian Bird Malaria: Dissecting Vector-Parasite Relationships
October 21, 2021 @ 4:00 pm
The School of Environmental and Biological Sciences’ Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution is holding a seminar series during the Fall 2021 semester, which includes the following presentation at 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 21:
“Hawaiian Bird Malaria: Dissecting Vector-Parasite Relationships”
Presented by Francisco Ferreira, Rutgers Center for Vector Biology
Ferreira is a research fellow in the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology and the Department of Entomology. He also is a staff scientist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and a veterinarian. He came to Rutgers in 2019 to work on a National Science Foundation-funded project related to the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases under the supervision of Dina Fonseca, center director and a core faculty member of Rutgers Global Health Institute.
Their project centers around the avian malaria system that has dramatically impacted Hawaiian birds, such as the honeycreepers, for many decades. Their research is addressing the genetic background and transcriptomic responses of Culex quinquefasciatus, the disease vector, when in contact with the Plasmodium parasite they transmit. By comparing mosquito populations from Hawaii with populations from other parts of the globe, the goal of this NSF project is to pinpoint genetic signatures that may be involved in vector competence or refractoriness.
Online via Zoom
Free and open to the public. Zoom webinar access link available online via the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution website. For more information, contact Brooke Maslo at brooke.maslo@rutgers.edu.