Achievement

IGERT Fellow Brandi Mueller and faculty Dr. Shannon Bennett and Dr. Brett Ellis of our disease ecology cluster have established an insectary facility at the University of Hawaii for carrying cutting-edge research on the mosquito-borne virus, dengue. This is only such facility in the Pacific Region where dengue fever has been a recurrent problem as one of the world's most serious re-emerging infectious diseases. Our team is working to develop and optimize protocols in these new laboratory facilities, in order to start mosquito infection studies. These studies will enable students and faculty to learn more about the transmission dynamics of the dengue virus, as well as how different dengue virus strains vary genetically. The ultimate goal of this research is to be able to better predict dengue evolutionary change and virulence, and from that be able to better control the virus.