- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Robert Washino, emeritus professor of entomology, emeritus chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and emeritus associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, praised him for his research and friendship.
"I first met Mir who was on the UC Riverside campus in the early 1960s for the first organizational meeting of the UC Systemwide Mosquito Research Program with biologists representing UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and UC Riverside," Washino recalled. "From that day forward, all of us in mosquito research competed for research funding and became either friends and/or competitors and sometimes both. I could have written a book on all that took place and it would have been a best seller if it were ever published but it was fun while it lasted!"
That was when the names of Barr, Work, Shaefer, Garcia, Reeves, Belkin, Bohart, Mulla and Washino--and more--populated the mosquito research news, or names "from the good ol days," said Washino, now 91.
"Mir was a great help to me getting started at UC Riverside, particularly in my mosquito days," said UC Davis distinguished professor Bruce Hammock, who holds a joint appointment with the Department of Entomology and Nematology and the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Major Dhillon, retired district manager of the Northwest Mosquito Abatement District, headquartered in Corona, Riverside County, and executive director emeritus of Society for Vector Ecology (SOVE), based in Ontario, Calif., was a 49-year friend and colleague.
"He was my major professor under whom I got my doctorate," Dhillon said. "I met him when he was 49 years old and I lost him after 49 years. He was a great mentor and TRULY an exemplary scientist of international fame.”
Dhillon said that Mulla donated $50,000 to SOVE last year at a memorial lecture. Mulla is credited with helping establish the UC Riverside's medical entomology department. He was named a fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 1995 and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1998. The World Health Organization honored him with its Distinguished Service Award in 2010, and SOVE singled him out for a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
Mulla's Formula. Mulla was a close associate of William "Bill" Reisen, professor emeritus, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Reisen wrote about Mulla's Formula to Estimate Control in a book, Vector Biology, Ecology and Control, pages 127-137, published in 2010:
"In California, the endemic mosquito borne encephalitides, including West Nile virus, are contained by special districts using integrated vector management programs. These agencies combine public education, source reduction and proactive larval control to suppress mosquito abundance to the point where tangential transmission of virus to humans is rare or unlikely. However, when these methods in concert fail to prevent enzootic amplification and the risk of human infection becomes eminent or is on-going, emergency adulticide applications of pyrethrin compounds are used to interrupt transmission. The efficacy of these applications has become controversial and some cities have opted to not apply adul-ticides. The current paper describes how a formula developed Dr. Mir Mulla some 40 years ago is still useful in solving contemporary problems of estimating percent control, a statistic useful in evaluating intervention efficacy. This simple but effective equation accounts for changes in both control and treated populations and thereby can be applied in dynamic situations where abundance is not stable. Examples are presented from ground and aerial experimental applications in Riverside County and from emergency interventions in Sacramento County in 2005 and Yolo County in 2006."
According to a 2008 UC Riverside newsletter, Mir served as a major professor for 27 doctoral students and three master's students; mentored more than 30 visiting scientists from overseas; and trained 20 postdoctoral scientists. "Dr. Mulla has made noteworthy contributions to, and has served in, numerous national and international organizations. These include the World Health Organization, with over 40 years of service in capacities such as science advisor, member of the Expert Advisory Panel, member or chair of steering committees or scientific working groups, as well as temporary advisor on numerous international projects. His publications (over 400) are well known around the world and are sought after by many scientists and specialists."
Native of Afghanistan. Born in Zangawat, Afghanistan to a family of 12 brothers and 4 sisters, Mir received a scholarship in 1948 to Cornell University where he obtained his undergraduate degree in entomology and parasitology in 3.5 years. He received his doctorate at UC Berkeley. In 1956, joined the UC Riverside faculty to help establish a medical entomology department, and launched his research on the control of eye gnats and mosquitoes.
From the Riverside Press-Enterprise obituary: "In his 50-year career as a medical entomologist, Dr. Mulla pioneered insect control methods throughout Southern California and the world. Mir's techniques for eye gnat and mosquito control improved people's health worldwide. He was a prolific scientist who authored more than 500 scientific publications. He loved field work and was a demanding editor, guiding over 30 graduate students. Mir led World Health Organization efforts to help developing countries control vector-borne diseases, including malaria. He traveled to many countries in this endeavor."
His wife of 64 years, Leila "Lee" Patterson Mulla, died Aug. 9, 2019 at age 88. They met at the International House at UC Berkeley during his graduate studies and married in August 1954. They raised four children, David, Shireen, Dean and Janet.
"Mir served as a leader in the Riverside Muslim community," according to the obituary. "He and Lelia founded the Islamic Society of Riverside and Orange Counties and played a key role in building the Islamic Center of Riverside, the first mosque in the Inland Empire. His philanthropic work included supporting the local Muslim community, donating land to Riverside County Parks to preserve public access to Sugarloaf Mountain for generations and establishing scholarships with the University of California Riverside in the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences."
A Muslim funeral prayer (Janazah) will be held Friday, Feb. 3 after the 1 p.m. Jum'a prayer at Islamic Center of Riverside, 1038 W Linden St., Riverside. A public memorial service will be held Saturday, Feb. 4 at 11 a.m. at the Norco Family Funeral Home, 2645 Hammer Ave, Norco, followed by burial at 1:20 p.m. Saturday at Pierce Brothers Crestlawn Mortuary, 11500 Arlington Ave, Riverside.
Donations in his memory can be made to the Dr. Mir S. Mulla and Lelia L. Mulla Endowed Scholarship Fund, UC Riverside Foundation (access https://myadv.ucr.edu/ and search for "Mulla") or the Islamic Center of Riverside, https://www.islamiccenterofriverside.net/donate).
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's well deserved!
Scott, a UC Davis distinguished professor who officially retired in 2015, is internationally known for his work on the ecology and epidemiology of dengue, a mosquito-borne viral infection transmitted mainly by Aedes aegypti. He now resides in Luck, Wis., where his wife's family is from.
Only 1 percent of researchers make the global list of Highly Recited Researchers, as announced by Clarivate. The Web of Science Group, the information and technology provider for the global scientific research community, annually honors the 1 percent of scientists whose publications are the most cited in scientific papers.
"Of the world's scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers truly are one in 1,000," according to the Web of Science website.
Scott is one of 14 researchers from UC Davis--and one of some 6660 worldwide--to achieve the 2021 honor.
Scott's 19 publications listed in the report have been cited a total of 402 times. His most cited publication: “The Current and Future Global Distribution and Population at Risk of Dengue,” published in Nature Microbiology in 2019.
“Being a Highly Cited Researcher means a lot to me because it's an objective measure of the extent to which the scientific community finds helpful the work that my colleagues and I did,” said Scott, who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology) in 1996. “ I was privileged to work with exceptionally smart, hard-working, and insightful people. We had a lot of fun, but we also took our science seriously. We challenged each other in constructive and collegial ways. We are proud of the results of our efforts.”
Healthy Cites, Healthy People. Scott co-chairs a Lancet Commission that focuses on how prevention of viruses transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes fits into the growing Healthy Cities, Healthy People movement. Lancet Commissions are tasked with identifying the most pressing issues in science, medicine, and global health, with the aim of providing recommendations that change health policy or improve practice. “In this case, we are making the case for Cities without Aedes,” Scott said. "We aim to reduce the burden and threat from Aedes transmitted viruses through improved construction and management of modern urban environments that build Aedes mosquitoes out of cities and towns.”
Scott is a collaborator in a clinical trial designed to demonstrate and quantify the protective efficacy of a spatial repellent to reduce human mosquito transmitted virus infection in Sri Lanka. “This new project,” he said, “builds on a randomized controlled clinical trial that my colleagues I recently completed in Iquitos, Peru, which revealed a significant protective efficacy of a spatial repellent against human infection. Publication of those results a currently under review.”
“In addition to the clinical trial, my colleagues and I are publishing a series of papers from Iquitos that examine the role of people with in-apparent and mild infections in virus transmission. By accounting for factors underlying variation in each person's contribution to transmission we will be able to better determine the type and extent of effort needed to prevent disease.”
Scott's other activities include being a scientific advisor for a clinical trial in Brazil that is testing the public health benefit of Wolbachia for prevention of viruses transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes. “The study will assess the efficacy of releasing Wolbachia-infected Aedes aegypti into the environment in reducing human virus infection compared to standard vector control measures alone,” he said.
Scott serves on three World Health Organization committees, “which I find particularly rewarding because of their potential to improve public health policy and thus global health.”
Among his other activities:
- Chair of a group that is writing a chapter on Dengue Vector Control Guidelines that will be included in the updated version of WHO guidelines for dengue diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control.
- Co-chair of the Wolbachia Evidence Review Group. “Mosquitoes infected with the endosymbionic bacteria Wolbachia are designed to have reduced capacity to become infected with and transmit a variety of viruses, which is expected to reduce human disease,” Scott explains. “Results from our deliberations will help the World Health Organization to develop guidelines for member States on the application of this exciting new intervention strategy.”
- Member of the World Health Organization Technical Advisory Group on the Global Integrated Arboviruses Initiative. The Arbovirus Initiative focuses on strengthening the coordination, communication, capacity building,research, preparedness, and response needed to mitigate the growing risk of epidemics due to arthropod transmitted viral diseases. Scott describes it as “a collaborative effort between the World Health Emergency Program, the Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases, and the Immunization, Vaccines, and Biological Department at WHO. Members of the Technical Advisory Group have a broad range of expertise (clinical management, diagnostics, epidemiology, vector control, virology, vaccines, and travel medicine) and serve in an advisory capacity to WHO with a focus on essential and strategic guidance on management of disease. Our current focus is finalizing the Global Integrated Arboviruses Initiative, which will be presented to the World Health Assembly for review and approval.”
Challenging and Rewarding. “I am excited about and enjoy all these activities,” the medical entomologist commented. “They are challenging and rewarding extensions of the work I have done for that past 40 years.”
Scott, who holds bachelor and master's degrees from Bowling Green (Ohio) State University, received his doctorate in ecology in 1981 from Pennsylvania State University and did postdoctoral research in epidemiology at Yale University School of Medicine's Arbovirus Research Unit, part of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. He served on the faculty of the Department of Entomology, University of Maryland, from 1983 to 1996 before joining the UC Davis entomology faculty as a professor of entomology and director of the Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory. He was acting director of the UC Davis Center for Vector-Borne Research from 1996 to 1999, and director of the UC Davis Arbovirus Research Unit (2001-2003). He was selected vice chair of the Department of Entomology in 2006, serving until 2008.
Highly honored by his peers, Scott won the coveted Harry Hoogstraal Medal from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2018. His other honors include fellow of three organizations: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2014), Entomological Society of America (2010), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008). He was named a UC Davis distinguished professor in 2014. In 2015, he won the Charles W. Woodworth Award, the highest honor awarded by the Pacific Branch of the Entomological Society of America.
The methodology that determines the “who's who” of influential researchers draws on the data and analysis performed by bibliometric experts and data scientists at the Institute for Scientific Information at Clarivate. It also uses the tallies to identify the countries and research institutions where these citation elite are based.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When you say "Thank you for your service," that not only means his service in the Korean War, but his entire career in medical entomology.
Dr. Washino, an emeritus professor/chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now the Department of Entomology and Nematology), is internationally known for his expertise in medical entomology and ecology, more specifically the ecology of mosquitoes and mosquito control agents; rice field ecology; mosquito blood meal identification, and remote sensing and geographic information technologies. He co-authored the last complete treatise on the Mosquitoes of California.
He is legendary for not only his research, but for his academic, administrative, and public service accomplishments.
However, few people know that during the Korean War, the Sacramento native served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps from 1956 to 1958. He saw duty in Europe (Orléans, France). As a medical entomologist, Lt. Washino conducted a small detachment and a laboratory and later served as an assistant preventative medicine officer.
And even fewer people are aware that as a child, he was incarcerated with his family in American-Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1945. It was a sad time in American history. On Feb. 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, sending nearly 120,000 American citizens and legal residents of Japanese descent to internment camps. Young Bob was 10 years old and living in Sacramento with his parents and four older sisters when the mandate took effect. The family eventually returned to Sacramento.
Young Bob went on to graduate from a Sacramento high school, receive his bachelor's degree in public health (1954) from UC Berkeley; and two entomology degrees from UC Davis: a master's degree (1956) and a doctorate (1967). He joined the entomology faculty in 1964. He officially retired in 1993, but continued his academic, research and public service accomplishments into his early 80s. He still consults with the medical entomologist community, including prospective students.
As an emeritus professor, Dr. Washino was called back into service. He accepted a total of three administrative posts on the UC Davis campus: special assistant to the dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences; interim co-director of the Center for Vectorborne Diseases, School of Veterinary Medicine; and chair of the entomology department.
Dr. Washino served 38 consecutive years on the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control (SYMVC) Board, the longest in the agency's history.This included five terms as president. He was instrumental in spearheading plans for the design and development of the present 40-acre district complex, completed in 1994. The building that houses the laboratory, laboratory staff and the library is named in his honor. In fact, he not only designed the complex, but gifted his literature and photographic collection for research and teaching purposes.
Among his dozens of credentials:
- Past president of the American Mosquito Control Association and the California Mosquito and Vector Control Association
- Former director of the UC Agricultural and Natural Resources Statewide Center for Pest Management and a consultant with the USDA Cooperative State Research Service.
- Coordinator of an international symposium on “Culex pipiens Complex Symposium: Global Perspectives in the 21st Century” in Anaheim, Orange County, Calif., gathering together 17 U.S. and worldwide speakers, including experts from London, Japan, Australia, Portugal and Germany. This was part of the four-day American Mosquito Control Association conference. He published the results of this landmark symposium on Dec. 2, 2012 in the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association; see https://bioone.org/journals/journal-of-the-american-mosquito-control-association/volume-28/issue-4s. The publication serves as a general landmark of how mosquito biologists currently view the Cx. pipiens complex. At the time, understanding the systematics of the Culex pipiens complex was one of the most controversial topics in the mosquito world.
- Chairman of the UC Davis Contained Research Facility Committee, resulting in the establishment of containment facilities on the UC Davis and UC Riverside campuses to solve the critical demand for strengthened pest exclusion, early detection, and alternative strategies for managing pest and disease problems. During the process, he worked with entomology, plant pathology and nematology faculty and with infrastructure officials on the two campuses.
Highly honored by his peers, Professor Washino received the international Harry Hoogstraal Medal for Outstanding Achievement in Medical Entomology in 2005 and was selected a fellow of the Entomological Society of America in 1997. Among his many other awards: the 2001 Award of Distinction from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the 1996 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Society of Vector Ecology. At the 2001 Award of Distinction celebration on Oct. 19, 2001, Andrew Spielman, professor of tropical public health, Harvard School of Public Health, praised him this way: “I regard Bob as the most respected and best loved medical entomologist in the whole world."
Robert Washino is also a veteran.
A veteran of the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps.
And today is Veterans' Day.
It's time, past time, to say "Thank you, Dr. Washino, for your service."
/span>- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The tsetse fly (Glossina genus), found in sub-Saharan Africa, transmits Trypanosomiasis, a parasitic disease that we commonly refer to as "sleeping sickness."
Sleeping sickness occurs in 36 sub-Saharan Africa countries, but due to sustained control efforts, the number of new cases is decreasing, according to the World Health Organization (WHO): "In 2009 the number reported dropped below 10,000 for the first time in 50 years, and in 2015 there were 2804 cases recorded."
Enter Alvaro Acosta-Serrano of Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, England, who researches tsetse flies.
Acosta-Serrano speaks on "A Hunger Game: Exploiting Tyrosine Degradation for Tsetse Control" at the next UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology seminar, set for 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, March 14 in 122 Briggs.
His research focuses on fundamental aspects of the biology of kinetoplastid parasites and their vectors, and on developing molecular tools to control and prevent parasite transmission in disease-endemic areas.
In his abstract, Acosta-Serrano writes: "My lab uses a combination of biochemistry, molecular genetics and cell biology to study the interactions between African trypanosomes and tsetse flies. These parasites undergo a complex life cycle in the tsetse that involves migration and colonization of different fly tissues. Establishment of a trypanosome infection occurs after the parasites reach the ectoperitrophic space (ES), which is in direct contact with the gut epithelium and is separated from the lumen by the peritrophic matric (PM). The tsetse PM works a barrier for oral pathogens and harmful molecules present in the blood meal. Although unproven, the most accepted hypothesis of how T. brucei reaches the ES is by direct crossing of the tsetse PM."
"My lab studies the reproductive biology and genetics of tsetse flies and other disease vectoring insects," Attardo related. "Tsetse flies are very unique in that they lactate and give birth to live young. We are exploring the fascinating physiological processes underlying the strange reproductive biology of this important vector insect. This work covers multiple areas of reproduction in tsetse including nutrition; analysis of genes associated with milk production; the molecular and biochemical interactions between male and female flies and the role symbiotic bacteria play in tsetse reproduction. We hope to eventually use what we learn to enhance current tsetse control efforts by exploiting their reproductive biology."
Attardo, who joined the faculty last year, holds a doctorate in genetics from Michigan State University and worked for 13 years at the Yale School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology of Microbial diseases, first as a postdoctoral associate and then as a research scientist. (See feature story)
The UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology hosts weekly research seminars at 4:10 p.m. on Wednesdays in 122 Briggs Hall, off Kleiber Hall Drive. The seminar on tsetse flies is the last of the winter quarter series. Coordinators are assistant professor Rachel Vannette; Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño and Ph.D student Brendon Boudinot.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Attardo joined the department July 1 as an assistant professor after 13 years at the Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, Conn., first as a postdoctoral fellow from 2004 to 2008, and then as associate research scientist and research scientist.
He now shares quarters in 37 Briggs Hall with Elina Lastro Niño, Extension apiculturist. Books on genes, genetics, genetic analysis, chemistry, biology and entomology line his book shelves, and macro images of insects and spiders brighten his walls. His coffee-table book, “Small World: Life Is in the Detail” showcases his passion for macro photography, particularly jumping spiders, dragonflies and praying mantids.
Geoffrey Attardo is eager to begin work. His research interests include the physiology and molecular biology of disease vectors, reproduction, nutrition, symbiosis, genetics, metabolomics, gene regulation, vector/parasite interactions “and any place the data leads me!”
“My lab will focus on aspects of the physiology of tsetse fly reproduction,” Attardo said. “The goal of this research is to identify and understand key aspects of tsetse's reproductive biology.” Tsetse flies, prevalent in much of sub-Saharan Africa, are known for vectoring human African trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness.
A native of Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Geoffrey received his bachelor's degree in entomology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 1994 and his doctorate in genetics from Michigan State University, East Lansing, in 2004.
A career in science came naturally. “My parents are both somewhat scientifically inclined, so I may have taken after them,” he says. “My father has a doctorate in metallurgy from Columbia University and led a long successful career at IBM. My mom was a full-time mom, but has a background in microbiology with a master's degree from Yale.”
“I decided to develop my career in science and went to work in Dr. Alexander Raikhel's lab at Michigan State University as a graduate student. I was always drawn to understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying the extreme biology of insects and Dr. Raikhel's lab provided that opportunity. There I focused on the molecular biology of egg development in mosquitoes.”
In research on mosquitoes, Attardo demonstrated that mosquitoes require nutritional cues to begin egg development. “Egg development had been known to be regulated by a steroid hormone called 20-hydroxyecdysone,” Attardo explained. “However, treatment of mosquitoes with this hormone along did not activate egg development. My research showed that when female mosquitoes take blood, the protein in the blood is broken down into amino acids which in combination with the hormone activate egg development. Either amino acids or the hormone along were not capable of activating this process, but when they are combined it unlocks a massive physiological change which causes the production of yolk proteins and activation of egg development.”
After receiving his doctorate, Attardo joined the Yale lab of Serap Aksoy to work on tsetse flies. “In terms of fascinating physiological adaptations, the tsetse fly is one of the champions of the insect world!” Attardo says. “In addition to being vectors of a deadly disease, Trypanosomiasis, these flies have undergone amazing alterations to their physiology relative to other insects. Some examples of this are their ability feed exclusively on blood, their obligate relationship with a bacterial symbiont, the fact that they lactate and that they give birth to fully developed larval offspring. The opportunity to study the adaptations these flies have made is like opening a toy chest for an insect physiologist. My work in tsetse has focused on the molecular biology underlying the adaptations associated with the development of lactation, symbiosis, male and female mating interactions/physiology and nutrient metabolism and mobilization.”
His tsetse research also includes identifying the tsetse milk proteins and the genes that code for them. Said Attardo: “They are really interesting as they are functionally very similar to milk proteins in mammals!”
In newly published research (June) in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, he and his colleagues examined the relationship between the fly and its obligate symbiotic bacteria called Wigglesworthia. “Tsetse flies without their symbionts are unable to reproduce and abort their larvae before the complete development,” he says. “We showed that the bacteria supplements the flies diet with B vitamins and that the fly appears to scavenge nucleotides (the component molecules of DNA and RNA) made by the bacteria. The B-vitamins made by the bacteria enable the fly to metabolize nucleotides, sugars, amino acids and produce chemicals essential for its overall metabolism.”
Attardo traces his interest in insects and macro photography to his childhood. “I had always been fascinated with insects, but my earliest memory was feeding insects to a beautiful black and yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia) that had set up her web in front of the bay window of our house. I was especially interested in spiders. Another early memory was being sick in bed with the croup and reading--and rereading multiple times--through a picture book I had on spiders that had amazing macro photos. I found jumping spiders particularly fascinating. From that point on I had been fascinated with seeing insects up close, but it was not until I was able to afford a good digital camera and the appropriate lenses that I was able to get into insect photography.”
Attardo's first professional camera was a Canon that he received in the mid-1990s.
His first digital? A Canon Rebel XT. He now uses a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with macro lenses, the MPE-65mm and the 100mm.
“I love macro photography because it reveals the amazing details that are present in things that many people take for granted or for mundane,” Attardo says. “Insects especially benefit from macro treatment as I find that most people have no idea about the type of amazing creatures they have living in their yard or even in their house. I'm often asked if my photos were taken in South America, Africa or Asia as the insects appear to be so exotic, however, they are often surprised --and sometimes dismayed--to find out that most of my photos are taken locally.”
The many shapes, sizes and designs of insects fascinate him. “I am a bit of a science fiction geek and I find insects to be almost alien in how different they are from vertebrates. It is like traveling to another planet when you start to magnify the world. I am endlessly fascinated with all the different strategies and adaptations they have developed to survive/thrive in places where many animals couldn't. I think by taking photos of them it allows me to open a window and share my fascination with people who don't normally give much consideration to insects and treat them just as bugs or an annoyance.”
“As a scientist, I have taken my fascination with the magnifying things to the extreme in that my work tends to focus on the molecular biology underlying the physiology of insect adaptations. The molecular adaptations are just as amazing as the morphological ones. However, they are even harder to visualize and explain to lay people. I enjoy illustration and artwork as well, so when it is not possible to take a picture of something I am working on, I try to create a visual representation of it.”
“I also really enjoy digital illustration and have recently gotten into 3D modeling. My first model is a tsetse fly for which I was able to use my macro photos to texture. See (https://sketchfab.com/models/263750e5a9c54c56a77d63ac06f2f317
He and his wife, Meg Gurley and their son, Douglas, 13, are settling into their home in Davis. "Meg is a full-time mom currently," he says, "and a Master Gardener. We have a symbiotic relationship as she grows the plants that attract the insects I like to photograph. Douglas and I are both into computers and computer gaming together."
Future lab plans? Attardo said three undergraduates will join his lab in the fall, helping him to “get the lab set up and running.” He hopes to hire a lab manager, a postdoc and “a couple of graduate students.”
A few of the projects he is excited to pursue:
- Study of lipid metabolism during tsetse pregnancy and the role that symbiotic bacteria play in this process.
- Understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes coding for milk proteins during the lactation cycle.
- Understanding the physiology behind mating effects on female tsetse flies and the role of male seminal secretions on female fertility.
- Comparative genomic analysis of different tsetse species to identify factors associated with vectorial capacity.
- Understanding the nutritional and metabolic impact of trypanosome infection on female tsetse flies and their reproduction.
- Development of new non-invasive detection techniques to measure changing physiological states and determine trypanosome infection in flies using hyperspectral imaging.
Geoffrey Attardo invites “anyone who is interested in meeting me and talking science, photography or anything else to stop by the lab and visit! My door is always open--unless I have a grant due!”
He can be reached at gmattardo@ucdavis.edu.