PEOPLE

Besansky Lab, November 2007: From Left, Nora Besansky, Karine Mouline, Emilie Gray, Brad White, Marcy Kern, Bryan Cassone, Kyanne Reidenbach, Changde Cheng

Nora J. Besansky, Laboratory PI.

An early commitment to vector biology and public health was cemented while still an Oberlin undergraduate, during summers spent as a technician in the Malaria Section of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases at the NIH with Ron Rosenberg, and during a semester abroad in Costa Rica .  I joined the laboratory of Jeffrey Powell at Yale University in 1984 to search for transposable elements in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiae, and having found and characterized the T1 retrotransposon family, I received my Ph.D. in Genetics in 1990.  After a one year postdoctoral fellowship with Thomas Folks at CDCs Retroviral Diseases Branch in Atlanta , during which I studied the molecular biology of HIV and HTLV retroviruses, I returned to malaria research in 1991 as a staff scientist in the CDC Malaria Branch under Kent Campbell.  From 1992 until my departure in 1997, I also held an adjunct Assistant Professor appointment with the Department of Biology, Emory University .  Since 1997, I've been a faculty member of the University of Notre Dame, where I've continued malaria vector research.  In addition, I have served as instructor for the Biology of Disease Vectors summer course, and organized a WHO/TDR workshop on Practical Approaches to the Population Genetics of African Malaria Vectors at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi , Kenya .  From 1995-2001, I served on the WHO/TDR Steering Committee on Molecular Entomology, as its Chair for the last three years.  From 2004-2008, I served on the NIH Vector Biology Study Section (Chair, 2006-8).

Emilie Gray, Postdoctoral Fellow

My interests combine curiosity for how organisms function in their environment with a desire to participate in research relevant to global environmental and epidemiological issues. The latter portion developed while I was in Ivory Coast, studying pollution seasonality in the lagoon surrounding Abidjan. This work experience made me realize the extent of environmental and health problems experienced in third world countries, and the interconnectedness of disease, pollution and poverty. During my PhD I became increasingly interested in mosquitoes. In particular, I realized that a large gap existed our understanding of Anopheles eco-physiology. By the end of my PhD I had gained insight into various aspects of mosquito biology, including gas exchange, energetics and water balance. My first post-doctoral experience, in South Africa, allowed me to investigate more in detail individual and population variation in respiration and water balance using various arthropods from springtails to scorpions. Then an opportunity to work for the Organization of Tropical Studies in South Africa helped me develop my teaching and mentoring skills while discovering savanna ecology and local history and culture. I have now returned to the fascinating field of “mosquitoology” and am ready to tackle the mysteries of the Anopheles success story.

Bradley White, Graduate Student.

Having spent my entire life in Tampa , I left for the “bastion of liberalism” that is Oberlin College in the fall of 2001 at the age of 18. My interest in vector-borne disease came about strictly by chance. The summer before my final year at Oberlin, I decided that I needed to get some research experience so that I had some hope of getting a job after I graduated. So I took a summer research position with Dr. Mary Garvin doing West Nile Virus surveillance work in mosquitoes. This opportunity piqued my interest in the ecology of disease vectors, and I stayed on and did research in the lab during my final year. I graduated from Oberlin in 2004 with a double major in Biology and English.

Just before graduation I accepted a year-long position in the Besansky Lab as a research technician. During my time as a technician I became involved with a variety of projects on the genomics of Anopheles gambiae. In 2005, I received a University Fellowship and began graduate work at Notre Dame. My main research interest is in how genetic heterogeneities of vector populations effect disease transmission. Currently, I am focusing on the population genomics of chromosomal inversions in An. gambiae. Interests outside of biology include creative writing, reading, table tennis, fantasy football, and cooking.

Bryan Cassone, Graduate Student.

My college career began at the University of Western Ontario, where I completed a BS in 2002. In order to be accepted into Grad School, I knew research experience was needed. I gained this during my final year at Western, working on temporal variation in molt intensities of migratory birds. I decided to add more genetics and less ornithology to my research focus, and joined the laboratory of Dr. Elizabeth Boulding at the University of Guelph Ontario.  I received my MS in 2004, having investigated population genetics and phylogeography of coastal benthic marine invertebrates. Looking to expand my research to include ecological genomics and also add a significant public health component, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Nora Besansky at the University of Notre Dame in 2005. My research is currently focused on identifying genes involved in the ongoing speciation of Anopheles gambiae M and S forms.

Kyanne Reidenbach, Graduate Student

My interest in vector biology began after taking a medical entomology course with Dr. Catherine Hill while still an undergraduate at Purdue University.  I then spent the next three semesters in the Hill laboratory characterizing G-protein coupled receptors in Aedes aegypti and obtained my B.S. in entomology from Purdue in December 2006.  In the summer of 2007 I joined the Besansky laboratory to pursue a Ph.D.  My current research interests include the genetic basis of assortative mating within the M and S molecular forms of Anopheles gambiae as well as molecular systematic studies of Culicidae.

Changde Cheng, Graduate Student

I earned a MS from UCLA under the mentorship of Dr. Charles Taylor, where I developed computational skills.  In the fall of 2007, I joined Dr. Besansky's lab, where I am interested in studying the genetic basis of adaptation in the 2La chromosomal inversion of Anopheles gambiae.

Marcia Kern, Technician.

I received my B.A. from Indiana University in South Bend . Afterward, at the University of Notre Dame I performed arboviral surveillance for the state and for St. Joseph County, working with Paul Grimstad. In 1989, I joined the Peace Corps and went to Kenya, where I collaborated for two years with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on a survey of knowledge, attitudes, practices and beliefs about malaria in Asembo Bay. I joined the CDC Malaria Branch and worked for another year in Kenya, where I gathered baseline information from mothers and young children as a prelude to the western Kenya insecticide-treated bed net trial (see Am J Trop Med Hyg 68 Suppl 4, 2003). An opportunity in 1996 brought me back to the University of Notre Dame.

Postdoctoral Alumni:

Odette Mukabayire, 1992-1997. Odette Mukabayire-Kramer is currently Director General of the Rwanda National Research Laboratory, Kigali, Rwanda

J. Wakoli Wekesa, 1995-1997. Currently with the San Bernardino Vector Control Program, Dept. Public Health CA

Steven P. Sinkins, 1997-1999. Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow in Basic Biomedical Science, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK.

Jaroslaw Krzywinski, 1998-2005. Lecturer, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK.

Igor Sharakhov, 2001-2004. Currently Asst. Prof., Dept. Entomology, Virginia Tech, VA.

Aram D. Stump, 2005-2006. Currently an Asst. Prof., Adelphi University, New York.

Karine Mouline, 2006-2007. Currently staff scientist with IRD, France.

Graduate Student Alumni:

Cherise Rohr, 1997-2001. Disease Control & Prevention Program Manager, Dept. of State Health Services, San Antonio, TX.

Brandon Hackett Schemerhorn, 1998-2002. Research Entomologist, USDA-ARS, Department of Entomology, Purdue University, IN.

Aram Stump, 2001-2005. Currently an Asst. Prof., Adelphi University, New York.

Andrew Michel, 2001-2005. Asst. Prof, Dept. of Entomology, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, The Ohio State University.

Mamadou Coulibaly, 2000-2006. Staff Scientist, Malaria Research and Training Center, Bamako, Mali

Undergraduate Alumni (University of Notre Dame):

John Caridi, 1998-1999 Currently Dept. Neurosurgery Residency Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Sarah Greeman, 1998-2002. Pursuing Masters in Public Health, University of Alaska, Anchorage.

Valerie Siquiera, 1999-2000.

Louis Amorosa, 2000-2001; Awarded Fulbright Fellowship, 2001. Currently School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA.

Andrew Serazin, 2001-2003; Awarded Goldwater Scholarship (2002), Rhodes Scholarship (2003). Currently Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle.

Michael Barnes, 2002-2004; Awarded Best Senior Thesis, College of Science; Currently PhD student, Scripps Research Institute, Dept. Immunology, La Jolla, CA.

Michael Willard, 2002-2006.

Meagan Fitzpatrick, 2004-2006; Awarded Kellogg Institute Undergraduate Summer Research Grant, $3,579. Currently graduate student, Yale University School of Public Health.

Lee Goeddel, 2004-2006. Currently Johns Hopkins Medical School, Baltimore, MD.