- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
“This is really an intersection of the work we do in my lab and Ed’s expertise in insect behavior,” said Luckhart, a professor in the UC Davis School of Medicine's Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, and a graduate student advisor with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
“Jose is very creative and independent – he’s a joy to mentor and undoubtedly will continue to do well in whatever career path he chooses,” Luckhart said.
Lewis, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, will be mentoring Pietri and collaborating in the project.
Pietri, who received a bachelor’s degree in cell biology from UC Davis, expects to receive his doctorate in microbiology in 2015.
The insulin-like family of peptides controls a wide variety of biological functions across the animal kingdom, Pietri explained. “In insects, insulin-like peptides are most commonly known as mediators of behavior. This research project seeks to understand how insulin-like peptides produced during malaria parasite infection affect the behavior of infected mosquitoes. Mosquito behavior during malaria parasite infection can drastically affect transmission to human hosts. As such, the researchers will analyze behaviors including but not limited to feeding, general activity, and temperature seeking in a genetically modified mosquito model. These experiments will determine whether insulin-like peptides play a potential role in increasing malaria parasite transmission to human hosts by altering essential behavioral processes in mosquitoes.
Pietri, who grew up in Roseville and is a 2007 graduate of Granite Bay High School, mentors college undergraduates and high school students and aims for a career in academia. “I chose to obtain my doctoral training in microbiology with the hope that I may one day help to develop novel control and treatment strategies for infectious agents,” Pietri said. “I also have strong interests in teaching and scientific outreach. For this reason, I have devoted a substantial amount of time to mentoring undergraduates and high school students in both the classroom and laboratory. Collectively, these experiences have led me to conclude that my ideal career would be one in which I can not only freely pursue my research interests, but also share my love for the sciences with other.”
This year Pietri was selected the recipient of a UC Davis Professors for the Future Fellowship (PFTF), a year-long competitive fellowship program “designed to recognize and develop the leadership skills of outstanding graduate students and postdoctoral scholars who have demonstrated their commitment to professionalism, integrity, and academic service.” Sponsored by Graduate Studies, the program focuses on the future challenges of graduate education, postdoctoral training, and the academy. PFTF Fellows receive a $3,000 stipend.
Pietri is also the recipient of a three-year National Institutes of Health-Predoctoral Fellowship (National Research Service Award), awarded in 2012.
The doctoral student presented his work at the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene last November in Atlanta, Ga., and at the Zagava World Malaria Day Symposium, held in April 2013 in Emeryville, Calif.
Pietri has co-authored research papers published in the General and Comparative Endocrinology, Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology, and PLoS Pathogens. One is pending in Microbes and Infection.
One of the papers, co-authored with Luckhart and other colleagues, is “Insulin-like Peptides in the Mosquito Anopheles stephensi: Identification and Expression in Response to Diet and Infection with Plasmodium falciparum,” published in the September 2011 edition of General and Comparative Endocrinology.