ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENTIST FROM ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY TO DISCUSS POPULATION DYNAMICS OF CHAGAS DISEASE VECTORS AT BARD COLLEGE ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 24

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.— On Monday, October 24, Heinrich Dohna, a postdoctoral research associate in the Laboratory of Populations at Rockefeller University, will give a lecture at Bard College on the research behind efforts to control a serious parasitic disease. The lecture, “Spatial Population Dynamics of Chagas Disease Vectors,” is part of Bard's Frontiers in Science Lecture Series, which presents current scientific ideas, trends, and concepts to the Bard community in an accessible fashion. The lecture is free and open to the public and takes place at 5 p.m. in room 115 of the Olin Language Center. Chagas disease is endemic to South and Central America and transmitted by the blood-sucking bug Triatoma infestans. Approximately 17 million persons are estimated to have this disease. Because there is no effective cure for Chagas disease, interrupting the transmission cycle by control of the vector is currently the major disease control strategy. However, in many areas the vector could not be eliminated despite long-term control efforts. A better understanding of the spatial population dynamics of the vector is therefore important to increase the effectiveness of control efforts. Dohna’s talk will present results of the analysis of spatiotemporal abundance data of T. infestans from three villages in northwestern Argentina. The analysis provided insights into dispersal season, dispersal distance, and time lags inherent in the colonization dynamics of T. infestans. He will discuss how these results could help to fight disease transmission more efficiently. Dohna’s research interests include spatial population dynamics, disease ecology, insect- plant interactions, and mathematical models for ecological interactions. He has Ph.D. and -continued- M.F.S. degrees from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and an undergraduate degree from Swiss Federal Polytechnical Institute, Department of Environmental Natural Science, in Zurich, Switzerland. For more information about the lecture, call 845-758-7581. # # # (9.26.05)

This event was last updated on 10-29-2005

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