The rockefeller university

Event Details

Type

Friday Lecture Series

Speaker(s)

Leslie B. Vosshall, Ph.D., Robin Chemers Neustein Professor and head, Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior, director, Kavli Neural Systems Institute, The Rockefeller University; investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Speaker bio(s)

Dr. Vosshall’s group is interested in the molecular neurobiology of mosquito host-seeking behavior. Female mosquitoes require a blood meal to complete egg development. In carrying out this innate behavior, mosquitoes spread dangerous infectious diseases such as malaria, dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. Humans attract mosquitoes via multiple sensory cues including emitted body odor, heat, and carbon dioxide in the breath. The mosquito perceives differences in these cues, both between and within species, to determine which animal or human to target for blood-feeding. Dr. Vosshall’s laboratory has developed CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing in the Aedes aegypti mosquito with the goal of understanding how sensory cues are integrated by the female mosquito to lead to host-seeking behavior. Some of the questions they are currently addressing are: Why are some people more attractive to mosquitoes than others? How do insect repellents work? How are multiple sensory cues integrated in the mosquito brain to elicit innate behaviors? How do female mosquitoes select a suitable body of water to lay their eggs? Recent advances from Dr. Vosshall’s laboratory in analyzing the molecular biology of host-seeking behavior will be discussed.

 

Dr. Vosshall received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Columbia University and her Ph.D. from Rockefeller. She conducted postdoctoral work with Richard Axel at Columbia before joining Rockefeller’s faculty in 2000. A Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator since 2008, Dr. Vosshall is the recipient of numerous honors for her work, including the 2002 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the 2007 Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists, and the 2011 Gill Young Investigator Award. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Open to

Public

Reception

Refreshments, 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., Abby Lounge

Contact

Justin Sloboda(opens in new window)

Phone

(212) 327-7785(opens in new window)

Sponsor

Justin Sloboda
(212) 327-7785(opens in new window)
jsloboda@rockefeller.edu(opens in new window)

Readings

http://librarynews.rockefeller.edu/?p=4277(opens in new window)