Program Leadership
This NIH international training program is led by a strategic dual-leadership model that leverages institutional strengths across Africa and Asia. Dr. Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec (Emory University) serves as Program Director (PD) and Dr. Courtney Murdock (Cornell University) serves as Principal Investigator (PI). This structure capitalizes on Emory University’s operational presence in Ethiopia to manage the African training and research components, and Cornell University’s established footprint in India to lead activities across Indian partner sites. Dr. Vazquez-Prokopec brings expertise in vector surveillance and control and has strong partnerships in Ethiopia focused on Anopheles stephensi urban malaria through CDC- and Gates Foundation–supported programs. Dr. Murdock is an expert in medical entomology, ecology, mechanistic and statistical modeling, and large-scale field and laboratory studies of vector–pathogen interactions, with established collaborations in India in partnership with the National Institute of Malaria Research on Anopheles stephensi in Indian cities.Together, the PD and PI have a long history of collaboration within the An. stephensi–urban malaria system and jointly oversee program administration, trainee recruitment, mentoring, compliance with NIH and international regulations, and integration across African, Indian, and Western institutions. Their coordinated leadership ensures rigorous training, strong international partnerships, and sustained knowledge exchange across regions.
Principal Investigator
Courtney Murdock, PhD
Cornell University
Courtney C. Murdock, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at Cornell University. She received her PhD in Disease Ecology from the University of Michigan and completed postdoctoral training in the Departments of Biology and Entomology at Pennsylvania State University before joining the faculty at the University of Georgia and later Cornell. Dr. Murdock’s research applies ecological and evolutionary theory to understand mosquito-borne disease transmission and improve disease management strategies. Her program integrates laboratory, semi-field, and field studies with mechanistic and statistical modeling to investigate processes spanning within-host dynamics to population- and community-level transmission, with a particular focus on informing surveillance and control of vector-borne diseases. She has published over 70 publications on these themes, is the chair of the National Institute of Health Transmission of Vector-borne and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Study Section, has served as a WHO technical expert on the invasion of An. stephensi in Africa, and is a council member of the American Committee of Medical Entomology. Finally, she has mentored over 50 trainees spanning undergraduate, graduate, post-doctoral and junior faculty career levels.
Program Director
Gonzalo Vazquez-Prokopec, PhD
Emory University
Dr. Vazquez-Prokopec is the Winship Distinguished Professor in Environmental Sciences at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA. His primary research areas are Disease Ecology, Medical Entomology and Global Health. His research and mentoring programs focus on three central topics: a) Identify the major determinants of the transmission and geographic propagation of vector-borne diseases of global health significance; b) Study the ecology of the insect vectors and reservoir hosts, and the role of human and vector behavior in pathogen transmission dynamics; c) use an evidence-based approach to identify targets that can help improve public health policy and practice. Over the past 15 years Dr. Vazquez-Prokopec has been involved in diverse research projects studying the eco-epidemiology of vector-borne and parasitic diseases, primarily dengue, Chagas disease and West Nile virus. As a result, he has published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and regularly participates in scientific panels for the US National Science Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization as an expert in vector ecology and control.