Program Details
Anopheles stephensi, an invasive urban malaria vector, poses an unprecedented threat to malaria elimination efforts in Africa. The URBAN-VECTOR Training Program, supported by the National Institute of Health - Fogarty International Center, brings together a multinational team of mentors from African, Indian, U.S., and U.K. institutions to build sustainable capacity in urban malaria research and control. By integrating expertise from India in urban malaria surveillance and control, advanced geospatial and ecological modeling from the U.S., and molecular genetics from the U.K., the program will train postdoctoral researchers, junior faculty, and public health professionals to lead independent research and evidence-based vector control programs, while working closely with national malaria control programs in Ethiopia. Over five years, the program will strengthen scientific leadership, foster career development, and support sustainable urban malaria research across Africa.
We will support independent, field-based research of post-doctoral and junior faculty in the An. stephensi system in Ethiopia to build capacity in four areas of emphasis: urban vector ecology and control, urban malaria epidemiology, molecular genetics, and modeling to support surveillance and control in urban environments.
Trainees will be supported by an international mentoring team with expertise spanning An. stephensi biology, surveillance, and control in its native range (Indian) and invasive African settings (Ethiopia), as well as advanced ecological and geospatial modeling to support surveillance and control (U.S.), and molecular genetics, bioinformatics, and molecular surveillance (U.K.).
Trainees will participate in intensive field training in India on An. stephensi urban ecology and control, short-term research exchanges with participating institutions to build specialized skills, and a month-long Summer Research Institute with instructional modules covering urban vector ecology, epidemiology, molecular genetics, and modeling for urban surveillance and control.