Malaria is a major public health problem in Africa. Despite the importance of mosquito vectors in malaria transmission, the overall capacity for research in medical entomology in African countries is particularly weak. The goal of this training grant is to enhance the research capacity on malaria vectors in Kenya and other African countries by advancing the career development of promising young scientists from malaria-endemic African countries and by transferring new technologies to African scientists. The training will be focused on 3 critical areas of mosquito population biology: population regulation of African malaria vectors, larval control using biological insecticides, and population biology of transgenic mosquitoes. The training will be conducted primarily in Kenya and will involve long-term training of Ph.D. students, postdoctoral fellows and short-term training of junior university faculty and research scientists from sub-Saharan countries. A series of short training courses will be given in Kenya to enhance the skills of the trainees in data management, biostatistics and geographic information technology. The training program will also support trainees to come to the US for research-oriented training. The research training program will fill 2 major gaps in medical entomology research in Africa by: 1) strengthening research on vector ecology and genetics, and 2) promoting the integration of geographic information technology and molecular biology techniques with field-based malaria vector research. This training program will contribute significantly to the career development of African scientists by equipping them with new technologies, by providing opportunities for them to develop valuable Africa-wide and international linkages, and by enabling them to develop independent or collaborative research projects.
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