Hyeogsun's paper examining the role of mosquito immune cells in malaria parasite killing was published in PNAS!!!

Here is the press release.

The lab recently received an NIH R21 grant to study the role of eicosanoids in mosquito innate immunity! This will continue Hyeog Sun's recent work on signaling lipids and their contributions to innate immune function and influence on malaria parasite development in the mosquito host.

Kris' paper "Surveillance of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in Southern Iowa, 2016" was just published in the Journal of Medical Entomology. Great job Kris!

With winter finally coming to an end, there have been some recent media interests about the threats of mosquito- and tick-borne disease. Here are a couple recent news stories in which we have been involved in:

Tick-, mosquito-spread diseases jump to record levels

Mosquitoes Already!? Tips From Experts After Mosquito Season Starts Early

Rebekah received the Wayne A. Rowley Scholarship in Entomology at the Annual Department Holiday party today. Rebekah has now received the award in back-to-back years! Congrats!

Wayne Rowley was there in person (and very festive) to cheer her on.

Hyeogsun presented his work "Chemical depletion of granulocytes reveal hemocyte contributions to anti-Plasmodium immunity" in the Young Investigators competition at ASTMH and won second prize! Congrats and great job!

Kris' last day in the lab was celebrated by heading to Alluvial. He will be missed, but wish him the best at Boehringer Ingelheim.

Multiple members of the lab headed to Baltimore to attend ASTMH and present their work. Ryan presented on our recent findings regarding WNV transmission, while Hyeogsun talked about the effect of hemocyte depletion on malaria parasite survival. Rebekah also presented a poster on her work examining the effects of mosquito hormones on cellular immunity.

Congratulations to Rebekah on her National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 

She was among the 2,000 awardees out of 13,000 applications, and one of 6 from Iowa State.  Great job!

We are proud to announce that our lab and other colleagues at Iowa State University will take part in the Upper Midwest Regional Center of Excellence in Vector-borne Disease. Based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the project also includes collaborators at the University of Illinois, Michigan State University and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Funded by a $10 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the center will focus on mosquito- and tick-borne disease research, as well as provide training programs to educate the next generation of public health entomologists.

We are very excited to be a part of this opportunity!

Zika infections are finally up and running. Now the exciting part to start doing all of the experiments that we have had planned!

Iowa State University 2016 surveillance: No Zika-associated mosquitoes found in state

Could Zika reach central Iowa? Here's what researchers say.

Des Moines Register - Zika

Drew presented a poster about his research entitled "Characterization of the LITAF-like gene family in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae" at the McNair Research Symposium on April 13th, 2016. Good job Drew!

Ryan received the 2016 Faculty Mentor of the Year Award for his role as Drew's mentor in the McNair Program. Thanks for the nomination Drew!  Now I have some fancy hardware to decorate my office!

A little late in posting this, but Ryan was interviewed for an article for the Des Moines Register regarding the integration of Zika virus and its respective outbreak in the Americas into the classroom curriculum. It's actually been quite fun talking about Zika in ENT 374 as new knowledge about the virus continues to emerge.

Rebekah gave a great oral presentation of her research entitled "Effects of Insect Hormones on the Mosquito Immune Response" at the 3rd Annual Graduate & Professional Students' Research Conference held at Iowa State University on April 12th, 2016. Great job Rebekah!

Iowa State mosquito researchers talk Zika virus.

Iowa Public Radio - Zika Risk for Iowans Very, Very Low