Human Health

Barreaux Priscille

Dr Priscille Barreaux is a Postdoctoral Fellow under the Human Health Theme (Symbiovector Project) at icipe and is based at Duduville Campus.

Dr Barreaux holds a PhD in Biology from the University of Neuchatel, Switzerland and worked in collaboration with Penn State University in the US and the Institute Pierre Richet in Ivory Coast. Her PhD focused on the sublethal effects of insecticide on malaria mosquito behaviour. Priscille is a member of the British Ecological Society, Multilateral Initiative on Malaria, Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour and European Society of Evolutionary Biology.

Before joining icipe, she worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and built on her knowledge of behavioural ecology and mosquito control to implement methods for in-country field collections and develop entomological indicators to assess the public health value of next-generation mosquito nets used to control malaria transmission. Her other previous engagements include working as a Research Collaborator at the University of Neuchatel where she obtained an MSc in biology of parasites and eco-ethology and a BSc in ethnology and biology. She studied how immune-challenged mosquitoes deal with infection(s) in different environmental contexts and malaria host-parasite interactions. She focused on better understanding parasite-induced manipulation in vectors and its impact on the prevention of malaria transmission.

Her professional achievements are in the areas of vector biology. She studied the mechanisms involved in insecticide resistance (focusing on identifying markers of pyrethroid resistance and cross-resistance) and how it impacts disease transmission in various malarious regions. Her interest areas are in vector biology and applied research to tackle global issues for public health, capacity building and wellbeing. Priscille’s main expertise is in developing phenotypic assays to measure insecticide resistance, combining phenotypic and molecular tools to improve insecticide resistance diagnosis, monitoring, and management. She managed the colonization of mosquitoes derived from the field and trained researchers to perform experiments focused on life history theories, lifelong foraging strategies, transgenerational phenotype plasticity and video-tracked mosquito behaviour.

Dr Njoroge Margaret Mendi

Dr. Margaret Mendi Njoroge is a Postdoctoral Fellow responsible for coordinating research activities within the Disease Ecology Group at icipe’s Thomas Odhiambo Campus in Mbita.

Dr. Njoroge holds a Ph.D. in Medical Entomology from Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands.

Prior to joining icipe, she worked as a Visiting Researcher at the Institute of Primate Research (IPR) in Nairobi; Research Officer at the Medical Biotech Laboratories (MBL) in Uganda, and as a Project Officer at the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), Kenya.

She was a Grand Challenges Exploration (GCE) awardee and received a VLIR-UOS scholarship for her MSc studies.

Her research focus is on One Health approaches for integrated vector management and the evaluation of novel intervention tools and approaches for malaria control.

Dr Onchuru Thomas Ogao

Dr. Thomas Ogao Onchuru is a a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Symbiovector Project under the Human Health Theme.

Dr. Onchuru is a Kenyan national and holds a PhD in Natural Sciences (Biology) from Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. Prior to joining icipe he worked as a Lecturer at Bomet University College and the Technical University of Kenya. He has also worked as a researcher at Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology (MPICE) in Jena, Germany.

Dr. Onchuru has previously won grants and worked as a researcher at MPICE, a project funded by the Jena School of Microbial Communication (JSMC), Max Planck Society and DAAD. He has authored or co-authored over 10 peer-reviewed publications and has been a recipient of several awards including the DAAD scholarship.

His research interests are in the areas of mutualistic interactions between important insects and their native microorganisms. His ambition is to investigate the role of microbial symbionts in shaping insect diversity, ecology, and evolution, and explore their potential in controlling medically, veterinary, and agriculturally important insects.

Dr Bukhari Syeda Tullu

Dr Syeda Tullu Bukhari is a Research Scientist, Global Health Thematic Research Programme (TRP) and is based at the icipe Thomas Odhiambo Campus in Mbita.

Dr. Bukhari holds a PhD in Medical Entomology from Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Prior to joining icipe she worked as a lecturer at Maseno University and has also worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Institute Pasteur, France, in the Genetics and Genomics of Insect Vectors Unit.

Some of her achievements include winning grants from INFRAVEC and Biovision during her postdoctoral studies at Institute Pasteur and as a visiting scientist at icipe.

Dr. Bukhari has authored or co-authored 12 peer-reviewed publications and has been a recipient of a PhD scholarship award from the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan.

Her research interests are in the areas of development and implementation of non-chemical vector control tool at community level as well as genetics of Anopheles immune response to pathogens in relation to Plasmodium susceptibility. She also takes great interest in the non-genetic factors (ecological: Biotic and abiotic) that shape the Anopheles immune response.

Dr Herren Jeremy

Dr. Herren holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology (specializing in insect symbiosis) from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).

He currently leads the icipe SYMBIOVECTOR programme which is developing strategies to use insect symbionts to block the transmission of vector borne diseases. The SYMBIOVECTOR programme discovered a Plasmodium transmission blocking symbiont, Microsporidia MB, that is currently being developed into a novel malaria control strategy.

Dr. Herren and this discovery were awarded “Breakthrough of the Year 2021” at the Falling Walls conference in Berlin. He has a track record of cross-theme collaborations at icipe and has mentored several post-doctoral researchers, Ph.D., and MSc students.