Taiwan Partnering Award: Mosquito Research - From Sensory Biology to Vector Control
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: Ear Institute
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Publications
Somers J
(2022)
Hitting the right note at the right time: Circadian control of audibility in Anopheles mosquito mating swarms is mediated by flight tones.
in Science advances
| Description | The UK Taiwan partnering award is a networking grant and as such itself will not have any immediate own findings or non-academic impact but it has allowed for receiving additional funding and for setting up a wide international network of both academic and non-academic stakeholders. Examples here are (i) the agrichemical company Syngenta, which the co-applicants of this award (Dr Chun-Hong Chen/Dr Joerg Albert) have gotten in contact with to explore novel approaches to mosquito control. Other examples are protagonists from Target Malaria - a not-for-profit research consortium that aims to develop and share technology for malaria control. The activities of this partnering award (especially the two symposia, one in Taiwan, one in UK) have connected us to these and other non-academic stakeholders. As a substantive indirect outcome, however, we were able to conduct joint experiments with the lab of Dr Chen on novel circadian mosquito mutants (paper in preparation) and could also design a series of new experiments which were successfully submitted as BBSRC grant application BB/V007866/1 (awarded, start September 2021). We were also invited to submit a full HFSP programme grant application (decision by April '21). The HFSP grant has hence been awarded (start October 2021). |
| First Year Of Impact | 2018 |
| Sector | Healthcare |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | AIM: 'Acoustic Insecticides' against Malaria! |
| Amount | £99,859 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 01/2019 |
| End | 06/2019 |
| Description | ANTI-VeC pump priming award: In the eye of the swarm: Mapping the acoustic landscape of mosquito disease vectors [https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/antivec/fundingopportunities/#/awardedprojects:anti-vecpump-primingfunding,av,av,av,av,av/pp28joergalbert] |
| Amount | £99,864 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AV/PP28 |
| Organisation | University of Glasgow |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 10/2018 |
| End | 09/2019 |
| Description | Acoustic mating in malaria mosquitoes: From signalling logic to vector control |
| Amount | £623,387 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/V007866/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 07/2021 |
| End | 06/2024 |
| Description | Taiwan Partnering Award: Mosquito Research - From Sensory Biology to Vector Control |
| Amount | £25,284 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | BB/R021007/1 |
| Organisation | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 06/2018 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship |
| Amount | £1,156,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | MR/S015493/1 |
| Organisation | Medical Research Council (MRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 05/2019 |
| End | 04/2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with Dr Chun-Hong Chen International Partnering Award (Taiwan Partnering Award: Mosquito Research - From Sensory Biology to Vector Control) |
| Organisation | National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) Taiwan |
| Country | Taiwan, Province of China |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | Together with Dr Chun-Hong Chen we will conduct joint UK/Taiwan workshops with international leaders in the field of mosquito sensory and circadian biology. We will also start proof-of principle experiments with novel mosquito mutants and we will conduct skill/knowledge transfer workshops between our labs. We hold the expertise in mosquito auditory and circadian biology. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Together with Dr Chun-Hong Chen we will conduct joint UK/Taiwan workshops with international leaders in the field of mosquito sensory and circadian biology. We will also start proof-of principle experiments with novel mosquito mutants and we will conduct skill/knowledge transfer workshops between our labs. Dr Chen's lab holds the expertise in mosquito mutagenesis. |
| Impact | none yet (still to start) |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Mosquito behavioural analysis (Dr Lauren Cator) |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Together with Dr Cator, we conducted novel tests for sound reception in disease transmitting mosquitoes. We also are in the process of devising novel microphone systems to measure mosquito sound emissions in larger swarms. Dr Cator is auxiliary partner of an ANTI-VeC pump priming award which my lab received and which emerged out of the UK/Taiwan partnering award. Our Taiwanese partner, Dr Chen from Zhunan, is also part of the team of researchers. My lab provided the biophysical basis for the new auditory tests, which we are also testing at Imperial College (Silwood Park Campus). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Cator has a large colony of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and also the crucial expertise (and equipment) to record and analyse mosquito mating behavior. |
| Impact | 1) creation of novel behavioural assays to test mosquito acoustic communciation. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Mosquito mutant generation and analysis (Dr Andrea Crisanti) |
| Organisation | Imperial College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are right now devising novel fitness tests, which the lab of Dr Crisanti can use to inform any future field releases and modelling thereof. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Crisanti's lab provided invaluable insights into mosquito transgenesis and also provided us with novel mutants, which added to our research on mosquito acoustic communication. |
| Impact | ANTI-VeC pump priming award Novel team of collaborators for mosquito research (multiple disciplines: genetics, biophysics, behavioural biology, ecology, neuroscience, agrichemical industry) The partnership with the Crisanti lab which commenced prior to the grant BB/V007866/1 has added substantial value to the grant as specific mutants supplied by the Crisanti lab can help answer some core questions of grant BB/V007866/1. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | mosquito swarming and behaviour within swarms (Drs Spaccapelo and Cavagna) |
| Organisation | University of Perugia |
| Country | Italy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Our team provided the knowledge of acoustic communication and hearing within swarms, which will be crucial for understanding swarm formation and biology. This is the ultimate goal of Dr Spaccapelo and Dr Cavagna. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Dr Spaccapelo and Dr Cavgna have the ideal facilities to test larger swarms of malaria mosquitoes. Their work is interdisciplinary stretching from basic biology (Spaccapelo) to theoretical physics (Cavagna). This environment makes it possible for us to understand the relative importance of hearing and acoustic communication within mosquito swarms. |
| Impact | Dr Spaccapelo contributed to our success to receive an ANTI-VeC pump priming award in UK. In 2022, this Anti-VeC award received additional funding, which enabled an extension of our mosquito research base. Also, Dr Marta Andres visited Dr Spaccapelo and engaged in a mutual skill and technology transfer exercise. This will lead to novel insights on sound generation and swarming in malaria mosquitoes. The partnership with Dr Spaccapelo, which commenced prior to the grant BB/V007866/1 has thus added considerbale value to its execution, and is expected to continue to do so. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | UK/Taiwan (BBSRC/MOST)-led network formation in mosquito sensory biology and vector control |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The core activities of this partnering award are centred around two symposia, one held in August 2018 at the NHRI in Zhunan (Taiwan) and one held in September 2019 at the UCL Ear Institute in London (UK). The symposium in Taiwan kick-started the network formation by gathering eminent mosquito researchers from Taiwan and wider Asia. The second symposium in London will build on the success and network built by the first symposium and invite the world-leading experts in mosquito biology and control from the entire world (confirmed attendants come from Boston (Harvard), Princeton, Shanghai, Zhunan, London, Liverpool, Keele, Montpellier, Perugia, Ithaca (Cornell). This symposium and the network it has created is unique in various aspects: 1) It assembles for the first time the world leading mosquito/insect scientist with the goal to introduce a new approach to mosquito control, which is led by a deeper understanding of mosquito sensory ecology. 2) It is led by two ideally placed and complementary partners (Dr Chen, NHRI, Taiwan / Prof Albert UCL, UK) who are well connected within their own (geographic and scientific) communities and can thus drive forward the creation of a new community, with a new outlook on mosquito control. This effort is crucial for the long-term success of the activities, within which the current partnering award is only a first step. 3) The activities are not restricted to the scientific communities but extend to other stakeholders and policymakers, such as industry or natinal governments. One example of first outreach activities shall be given: On March 13, 2019, Dr Cheng and Prof Albert visited the Taiwanese consulate and met with the UK Representative Amb. David Yung-Lo Lin and the Taiwanese Director of the Science and Technology Division, Prof. Jiun-Huei Proty Wu to discuss further ways to grow the UK/Taiwan scientifc collaboration and the mosquito work in particular. Prof. Wu will also give the opening remarks at the London symposium (06-08/09/2019). These activities reflect the ambition of this partnering award to create a much wider national and international impact. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018,2019 |
| Description | collaborative, cross-project visit at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) of Munich |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | During a 4-day visit at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Prof Albert explored the collaborative potential across three ongoing (or recently ceased) grants: Award References: BB/L02084X/1 + BB/M008533/1 + BB/R021007/1 + ERC-consolidator grant Clock mechanics (648709), S34, BB/R000549/1, 1206383, 1336457 The visit included a central seminar with the LMU's neurolunch series and meetings with various group leaders and internationally leading PIs in animal evolution, neuroscience and health (e.g. Prof Benedikt Grothe, Prof Axel Borst, Prof Nicolas Gompel, Prof Peter Becker, Prof Till Roenneberg and Prof Martha Merrow). The aim of this visit was to present the recent data of the involved projects just prior to submission for publication and to explore how the overlaps between the different projects can be harvested by new collabrations with experts in the respective fields. Examples include the exploitation of circadian clock function and auditory homeostasis (Profs Becker, Grothe and Merrow), or the evolution of sensory modality and submodality (Profs Borst + Gompel). The short-term goal will be to apply for larger national (e.g. Wellcome Trust collaborative awards) or international (e.g. European Research Council) follow-up grants! The LMU is a centre of German academic excellence, which is of strategic interest for UCL. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |