Symbiosis Control

Symbionts are being examined as vehicles to affect control of tsetse flies or to introduce strategies to induce vector incompetence. All inquiries of this application are directed to Professor Aksoy at Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, CT:

http://aksoylab.yale.edu

Contact and Specific Information

Serap Aksoy, Ph.D.

Professor and Head

Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases

Yale School of Public Health

60 College Street

P.O. Box 208034

New Haven, CT 06520-8034

Laboratory Web page

http://info.med.yale.edu/eph/faculty/labs/aksoy/index.html

Phone: (203) 737-2180

Fax: (203) 785-4782

serap.aksoy@yale.edu

Dr. Aksoy’s research aims to understand the biology of vector parasite interactions; in particular in tsetse flies, which transmit African trypanosomes. Basic studies focus on the molecular aspects of tsetse while the applied studies aim to harness this information to develop biologically sound novel disease control strategies.

A second area of research focuses on the molecular and evolutionary basis of symbiotic relationships that tsetse flies have established with microorganisms. The biology of each symbiosis is characterized using biochemical, genetic, cellular and molecular techniques to understand the functional significance of each symbiont in the context of its dynamic host environment.