DAVIS--For outstanding teaching and mentoring, molecular biologist Shirley Luckhart has been named the recipient of the 2016 “Award for Excellence in Service to Graduate Students,” sponsored by the UC Davis Graduate Student Association.

“This is a wonderful surprise,” said Luckhart, professor with the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and adjunct professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology.

She will receive the award on April 8 at the annual Interdisciplinary Graduate and Professional Student Award Banquet.

Luckhart, whose expertise includes molecular cell biology and biochemistry of malaria parasite transmission, was singled out for creating a thriving lab environment and her drive to help her students succeed.

Lab member Elizabeth “Lizzy” Glennon, a doctoral candidate in entomology, said that Luckhart is “unique in her creation of a cohesive lab environment, the quality of training that her students receive, and the strength of her dedication to education and wellbeing of students.”

“The most effective way of studying disease transmission is a multi-disciplinary approach,” Glennon wrote. “This is precisely the environment Shirley has created in her lab and all of her students benefit from it. Members of her lab are from several different departments and are encouraged to use their background to broaden the scope of their research. Shirley expects students to work collaboratively both within and beyond the lab and has put an enormous amount of effort towards forming and maintaining the community of vector-borne disease researchers at UC Davis.”

“Shirley served as interim co-director of the Center for Vectorborne Disease, served as an advisor to all students who are part of the designated emphasis in vector-borne disease, and sought to expand the community by involving new faculty members and their students,” Glennon said. “She organized and promoted events to allow students to meet and interact with each other, UC Davis faculty, and distinguished visiting scholars in the field. All of this work builds a legacy of excellent research and collaboration in the field that is a service to all current and future students at UC Davis.”

Luckhart “expects a great deal from her students and pushes them to work and think independently but also supports them unflaggingly in their efforts to do original research and form themselves as professionals,” Glennon said. “She ensures funding for all students joining the lab but encourages us to apply for external funding, both by forwarding scholarships she comes across and reading our applications.”

“All students are expected to take part in writing grants, updates, and portions of collaborative papers and are always given credit for the work they do,” Glennon wrote. “Students in her lab receive an education in the nitty-gritty of conducting research, from forming collaborations to acquiring funding to overcoming administrative hurdles. This is invaluable, particularly for students such as myself who are considering a career in academia.”

“Perhaps her greatest strength as a mentor is the sense of cohesiveness that she has created within the lab,” Glennon pointed out. “There are currently 10 members in her lab, including undergraduates and technicians, and the projects of every individual are overlapping. Through lab lunches, weekly meetings, and practice presentations we receive not only feedback from our principal investigator, but also from our peers.”

Lab member Lattha Souvannaseng, a doctoral candidate in genetics, praised Luckhart for instilling skills for quality research and placing great importance on communicating effectively. “These are qualities that include writing and presenting information clearly, concisely, and intelligently, all competencies that can be applied in any field and for any audience.”

“She will make time to help anyone, from an inexperienced undergraduate student presenting for the first time at the Undergraduate Research Conference, linking a master's student to a connection in a biomedical company, to the seasoned senior scientist interviewing for a tenured faculty position,” wrote Souvannaseng, who plans a career in science education outreach. “I have now mentored four undergraduate students and looked to Shirley as an example of what a great mentor should be. She is always available to me when I need advice on how to guide my students, and as a result, the students are gaining valuable experiences in the lab.”

Maribel “Mimi” Portilla, a doctoral candidate in the Sharon Lawler lab, praised Luckhart's support and guidance. “Due to this positive and supportive experience, her name immediately came to mind as an academic adviser to the women in STEM support group I created, Sisters in Science. Her involvement in this group speaks to her ability to show support in a way that goes beyond her mentorship as a principal investigator.”

Luckhart earlier received the 2012 Outstanding Mentor Award from the UC Davis Consortium for Women and Research.

Luckhart, who joined the UC Davis faculty in 2004 from Virginia Tech, received her master's degree in entomology from Auburn University, and her doctorate in entomology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

DAVIS--Noted medical entomologist Matthew Thomas of Pennsylvania State University will speak on “Ecology and Control of Pests and Diseases: from Biblical Plagues to the Most Dangerous Animal on the Planet” at a free public lecture on Thursday morning, April 7 in the Walter A. Buehler Alumni and Visitor Center, UC Davis.

The lecture, to take place at 10:45 a.m. in the Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR) Hall, is sponsored by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Storer Life Sciences Endowment of UC Davis.

At Penn State, Thomas serves as the Huck Scholar in Ecological Entomology and directs the Ecology Institute, in addition to his duties as a professor of entomology in the Department of Entomology and Centre for Infectious Disease Dynamics.

He will be introduced by Professor Shirley Luckhart of the UC Davis Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, coordinator of the event.

Thomas researches many aspects of the ecology and evolution of insect pests and diseases in his drive to understand the consequences of global change and to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of pest and disease management. His work involves predicting and understanding the impact of invasive species, and researching biodiversity and ecosystem health, plus many aspects of biological control.

Last December Thomas and his research team at Penn State, in collaboration with partners in Europe and Africa, received a five-year, $10.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate a new method for preventing the transmission of malaria.

“The method involves limiting mosquito access to houses by blocking openings and installing ‘eave tubes' that contain a unique type of insecticide-laced mosquito netting developed by Dutch partner In2Care that kills the insects as they attempt to enter,” according to a Penn State news release.

Thomas was quoted as saying: “Nearly half of the world's population is at risk of contracting malaria, and according to the most recent World Health Organization report, an estimated 438,000 people died from the disease in 2015. The use of insecticides to control mosquitoes has saved millions of lives, but this tactic is increasingly challenged because mosquitoes quickly evolve resistance to the very limited number of insecticides currently used in public health. The eave tube approach presents a novel strategy to help combat this challenge by simultaneously making houses more mosquito proof and providing a novel way of delivering insecticides, which creates opportunities for using a wider range of insecticidal products."  

"The small amount of insecticide used in the tubes means that it is cheap to treat an entire house," said Thomas. "Furthermore, retreatment is easy, as it requires simple replacement of small pieces of netting within the tubes."  

Internationally recognized, Thomas is a recipient of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Medal for Research Achievement, is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an honorary professor at the University of Witwsatersand, South Africa. He also received Penn State's Alex and Jessie Black Award for Research Excellence.

Patrick Duffy, chief of the National Institutes of Health's Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology, will keynote  the fourth annual Bay Area World Malaria Day Symposium, set Friday, April 24 on the Clark Kerr campus, UC Berkeley. The symposium, to take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., will be co-hosted by the University of California, Davis, and Zagaya, a non-profit organization that envisions a malaria-free world.

Duffy is an internationally recognized expert in human malaria pathogenesis, malaria in pregnancy, and malaria vaccine development. He has published more than 100 papers on malaria over his nearly 25-year career.

Before accepting his current position in November 2009, Duffy served as director of the malaria program at Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) and affiliate professor of global health at the University of Washington. Duffy recently established the Malaria Clinical Trials Center  in Seattle and for several years led the SBRI-Tanzania Malaria Research Training Program for young African scientists. He received his medical degree from Duke University, interned at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and completed his postdoctoral training in molecular vaccine development at the National Institutes of Health. 

Among the speakers is UC Davis co-host and molecular biologist Shirley Luckhart, professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology School of Medicine, and co-director of the Center for Vector-borne Diseases (CVEC). She will disuss the center's vision as well as new strategic initiatives and partnerships. Luckhart and epidemiologist Janet Foley of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine were named co-directors of CVEC last year.

In addition, members of the Luckhart lab, including Jose Pietri, Lizzy Glennon, Lattha Souvannaseng, and Nazzy Pakpour, will present their research at the meeting.  

"The event will provide significant opportunities for networking for our trainees and for spending a day thinking about we can make a difference to eliminating one the greatest global health crises of our time," Luckhart said.

James R. Carey, distinguished professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and Cecilia Giulivi, professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, "will be presenting on innovative applications of their expertise to malaria research," Luckhart announced.

Other UC Davis campus faculty attending the meeting will include Renee Tsolis of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Medicine, and her lab; and Koen Van Rompay, director of the Diagnostics Laboratory, California National Primate Research Center, UC Davis.

The daylong event will conclude with a gala reception hosted by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a global public health non-profit founded in 1977 with significant interests in malaria and more than 1200 employees in 30 offices across the world.

Zagaya is a Bay Area-non profit that envisions a malaria-free world  created through education, innovative vector control, effective vaccines, better water management and safer pesticides, and access to the highest quality anti-malarials available. 

The symposium is open to the public. General admission is $50, and student admission (with identification) is $25. Registration includes breakfast and lunch. In addition, attendees are invited to donate funds for bednets in Africa. The donations will go to Nothing But Nets, one of the World Malaria Day partners. 

Reception: This year, following the World Malaria Day Symposium on April 24 at Clark Kerr campus, PATH (path.org) is sponsoring a networking reception from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Garden Room.  If you are registered for the symposium, you are welcome to attend and don't need to do anything more.  However, If you can attend only the reception, please RSVP. Register here or call 650.392.2576. For any questions, please email drugdev@path.org.

Map: http://p2sl.berkeley.edu/maps/DirectionsToCKC.pdf

Distinguished Professor Thomas Scott of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Professor Shirley Luckhart of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology have been selected fellows of the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

They were honored at a recent meeting of ASTMH in New Orleans for their sustained professional excellence in their field. Fellows are selected for their work in "any phase of tropical medicine, hygiene, global health and related disciplines," ASTMH officials said.

Scott, internationally known for his work with on the ecology and epidemiology of dengue, focuses his work on contributing to improved public health in the United States and in the developing world, where resources are inadequate and help is desperately needed.  His expertise centers on mosquito-transmitted disease; the bulk of his work is on dengue.

Scott received his doctorate in ecology from Pennsylvania State University, and worked as an epidemiology post-doctoral scholar at the Yale School of Medicine.

Luckhart's expertise includes the molecular cell biology and biochemistry of malaria parasite transmission. Closely  associated with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, she serves asa graduate student advisor and interim co-director of the UC Davis-based Center for Vectorborne Diseases. Luckhart received her doctorate in entomology from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.

ASTMH, founded in 1903, is a worldwide organization of scientists, clinicians and program professionals whose mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor. Research, health care and education are the central activities of ASTMH members, whose work bridges basic laboratory research to international field work and clinics to countrywide programs.

Specific ASTMH goals include:

• Improving the health of people worldwide
• Advancing research in tropical diseases
• Fostering international scientific collaboration
• Supporting career development in tropical medicine and global health
• Educating medical professionals, policymakers and the public about tropical medicine and global health
• Promoting science-based policy regarding tropical medicine and global health
• Recognizing exceptional achievement in tropical medicine and global health