Research Interests

I am interested in understanding the sensory system of dangerous disease vectors with the ultimate goal of controlling the spread of deadly pathogens. I want to answer questions like: How do mosquitoes sense the world around them? How does this guide their disease-spreading behaviors? Why do some people get bitten more than others? And how do we stop them from biting us? By answering these itching questions, I hope to find new ways to control the spread of global diseases that infect hundreds of millions of people every year.

My most recent project investigates how mosquitoes use their sense of taste to control important behaviors including feeding, biting, and egg laying. By better understanding how mosquitoes taste human hosts and guide their biting behaviors, we may find new avenues of vector control methods.

Science is ever changing and progressing. Please check back again later for more exciting research updates.