Departmental Affiliations
Center & Institute Affiliations
Contact Info
Research Interests
vector biology; entomology; population genetics; arthropod genetics; Lyme Disease; malaria; West Nile virus; biodiversity; tick; mosquito; Rickettsia; dengue; Zika
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Experiences & Accomplishments
Arthropod-borne diseases are responsible for enormous amounts of morbidity and mortality world-wide. Research in my laboratory is focused on genetic diversity within, and the genetic structuring of, arthropod and arthropod-borne pathogen populations. This research helps identify which arthropod populations may be important for disease transmission and which pathogen populations may be responsible for causing disease. The genetic information gathered in these studies also aids in the understanding of the evolution and genetic constraints of these vector-pathogen systems and may provide insight into how these cycles of disease may be disrupted. Current research activities in the laboratory are focused on malaria in Southern and Central Africa, Lyme disease, Rickettsia and other tick-borne bacteria in the Eastern United States, and dengue, yellow fever and Zika in South America. We are also working on novel trapping and pathogen surveillance technologies using vector arthropods as biological sensors.
Honors & Awards
2022 Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; 2022-Present - Chair, Scientific Advisory Board, Lyme and Tick-borne Diseases Research and Education Institute, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; 2021 Distinguished Service Award, Society for Vector Ecology; 2021-2022 - Chair, American Committee on Medical Entomology; 2020 Delta Omega Honors Society; 2019-Present - Executive Board, Northeastern Regional Representative, Society for Vector Ecology; 2019-Present - Executive Council, American Committee on Medical Entomology; 2019-Present - Editorial Board, Journal of Medical Entomology; 2017 Student Assembly Advising, Mentorship and Teaching Recognition Award (AMTRA); 2013-2014 - President of the Society for Vector Ecology; 2010-2011 - President, Medical, Urban and Veterinary Entomology Section of the Entomological Society of America; 2005-2006 - President of the Acarological Society of America
Select Publications
Our publications represent the work conducted in the laboratory, so tend to be quite varied. Below are five of our most recent research publications.
(Selected papers) Gebhardt, ME, R Krizek, M Coetzee, LL Koekemoer, Y Dahan-Moss, D Mbewe, JS Lupiya, M Muleba, JC Stevenson, WJ Moss and DE Norris for the Southern and Central Africa ICEMR Team. 2022. Expanded geographic distribution and host preference of Anopheles gibbinsi (Anopheles species 6) in northern Zambia. Malaria Journal. 21(1): 211. PMID: 35780113. PMC9250713. doi: 10.1186/s12936-022-04231-5.
Gebhardt, ME, KM Searle, T Kobayashi, TM Shields, H Hamapumbu, L Simubali, T Mudenda, PE Thuma, JC Stevenson, WJ Moss and DE Norris for the Southern Africa ICEMR Team. 2022. Understudied anophelines contribute to malaria transmission in a low-transmission setting in Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 106(5): 1406-1413. PMID: 35344932. PMC9128685. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.21-0989
Jones, CM, II Ciubotariu, M Muleba, J Lupiya, D Mbewe, L Simubali, T Mudenda, ME Gebhardt, G Carpi, AN Malcolm, KJ Kosinski, AL Romero-Weaver, JC Stevenson, Y Lee and DE Norris for the Southern Africa ICEMR Team. 2021. Multiple novel clades of anopheline mosquitoes caught outdoors in northern Zambia. Frontiers in Tropical Diseases. 2: 780664. doi: 10.3389/fitd.2021.780664
Ferriss, E, M Chaponda, M Muleba, J-B Kabuya, JS Lupiya, LH Moulton, DE Norris and WJ Moss for the Southern and Central Africa International Center for Excellence in Malaria Research (ICEMR). 2023. The impact of indoor of household and community indoor residual spray coverage with Fludora® Fusion in a high malaria transmission setting in northern Zambia. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. 109(2): 248-257. PMID: 37364860. PMC10397455. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.22-0440
Ciubotariu, II, CM Jones, T Kobayashi, T Bobanga, M Muleba, JC Pringle, JC Stevenson, G Carpi, and DE Norris and for the Southern and Central Africa ICEMR Team. 2020. Genetic diversity of Anopheles coustani (Diptera: Culicidae) in malaria transmission foci in southern and central Africa. Journal of Medical Entomology. 57(6): 1782-1792. PMID: 32614047.
Hoffman, JE, II Ciubotariu, L Simubali, T Medenda, WJ Moss, GC Carpi, DE Norris, and JC Stevenson for the Southern Africa ICEMR Team. 2021. Phylogenetic complexity of morphologically identified Anopheles squamosus in southern Zambia. Insects. 12: 146. PMID: 33567609. PMC7915044.