Thermal biology of midges as vectors of Leishmaniasis

The main aim of the research project is to demonstrate whether and to what extent can UK blood-feeding midges acts as vectors of disease (specifically Leishmania). The newly established Leishmania Munidia genus has been shown to be able to successfully attach to midge gut which is a key step in transmitting the disease. I will investigate how temperature acclimation and infection status affect survival, fecundity, behaviour of midges and parasite development in order to model the risk of spill-over of Leishmania in UK under different climate change scenarios. This project will investigate the tritrophic interactions between the pathogen, its vector and the host, and how they are affected by environmental change (mainly temperature). By adopting this holistic approach to understanding of vector-borne diseases, we will advance the knowledge of the new Leishmania-midge system which can form the basis for policy-making.

I will achieve the aims of this project via a combination of approaches from thermal ecology, microbiology, analytic chemistry and modelling.