ANTI-VeC is delighted to announce the successful awardees of our pump-priming funding call.  Following a highly competitive two-stage review process, we selected 9 projects which are aligned to the key themes of the Network, relating to vector-pathogen interactions, novel symbionts and transmission blocking, gene drive systems, mosquito behaviour, as well as social sciences and stakeholder engagement to deliver information about genetic control measures.  

We received 34 expressions of interest at the first stage and the overall quality of the proposals received was very high.

The 10 projects selected for funding are: 

Project Title Investigators / Organisations Award Value   
The impact of feeding method on Anopheles mosquito midgut microbiota and P. falciparum infection rates
  • Mara Lawniczak (PI), Wellcome Sanger Institute
  • Arthur Talman, Wellcome Sanger Insitute
  • Abdoulaye Djimde, University of Science, Techniques and Technologies, Bamako

£57,799.60
Roles of insect-specific flaviviruses and immune priming in arbovirus transmission blocking in mosquitoes
  • Jandouwe Villinger (PI), International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
  • Seth Barribeau, University of Liverpool, UK
  • David Tchouassi, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
 £100,000
A Novel Malaria Transmission Blocking Strategy: Microsporidian Symbionts of Anopheles Mosquitoes
  • Jeremy Herren (PI), International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
  • Steven Sinkins, University of Glasgow, UK
  • Mara Lawniczak, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK
  £99,928
Targeted disruption of the steroid hormone inactivation pathway in Anopheles mosquitoes for malaria control
  • Mark Paine (PI), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
  • Luc Salako Djogbenou, University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
  £95,400
Determining heritable microbe incidence, prevalence and impact in sandfly vector species
  • Greg Hurst (PI), University of Liverpool, UK
  • Jandouwe Villinger, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
  • Damaris Matoke-Muhia, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
  • Claudia Ximena Moreno Herrera, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia
  • Rafael Vivero, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia
  • Gloria Cadavid, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Medellin, Colombia
  £99,952
Functional genetics tools for Anopheles funestus: opening the door to genetic control and to an understanding of its vector competence (FunFuncGen)
  • Tony Nolan (PI), UK
  • Charles Wondji, Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases (CRID), Cameroon
  £97,592
Should tsetse symbiont, S. glossinidius, be engineered to control African Trypanosomiasis
  • Alvaro Acosta-Serrano (PI), Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
  • Daniel Masiga, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya
  • Lee Haines, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK
  £98,334
Effects of co-infection of Wolbachia and the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium pingshaense in Aedes aegypti
  • Abdoulaye Diabate (PI), Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS) / Centre Muraz, Burkina Faso
  • Etienne Bilgo, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Sante (IRSS) / Centre Muraz, Burkina Faso
  • Steven Sinkins, University of Glasgow, UK
  • Maria Vittoria Mancini, University of Glasgow, UK
  £70,800
Into the Wild: New Models for Community Engagement with Mosquito Releases
  • Ann Kelly (PI), King's College London, UK
  • Fredros Okumu, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
  • Javier Lezaun, University of Oxford, UK
  • Prosper Chaki, Ifakara Health Institute / Pan African Mosquito Control Association (PAMCA), Tanzania
  • Givemore Munhenga, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Brian Tarimo, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
  • Marceline Finda, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
  £83,847
In the eye of the swarm: Mapping the acoustic landscape of mosquito disease vectors
  • Joerg Albert (PI), University College London, UK
  • Sarah Moore, Ifakara Health Institute, Tanzania
  • Marta Andres, University College London, UK
  • Matthew Su, University College London, UK
  £99,864

First published: 31 October 2018

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