Dr. Flaminia Catteruccia - Blood, Drugs and Parasites: Novel ways to block Plasmodium transmission by mosquitoes

Flaminia Catteruccia is Professor in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and an Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Her research focuses on the study of the molecular basis of reproductive biology in Anopheles mosquitoes, the malaria vectors, and of the factors that shape the development of the malaria parasite during mosquito stages. Her research program integrates basic molecular biology investigations with high-impact translational studies. 

Professor Catteruccia earned a bachelor’s degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Rome La Sapienza in Italy and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Imperial College London in the UK, where she achieved the first genetic manipulation of Anopheles. She has made unique and fundamental contributions to the field of mosquito research in the area of developing transformative genetic tools, and by applying these tools to the study of mosquito mating behavior and reproductive biology. Her studies at Harvard are expanding our understanding of the biology of Plasmodium parasite transmission by the Anopheles mosquito and are leading to the generation of novel tools to aid malaria elimination. Her work has a strong field component in a number of African countries to confirm and expand the laboratory findings of her research group. Between 2006 and 2011 Professor Catteruccia held a Medical Research Council Career Development fellowship at Imperial College London. In recognition for her contributions and potential, Professor Catteruccia was awarded the prestigious Faculty Scholar Award jointly sponsored by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2022 she was nominated a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. 

Join the EPPIcenter online in welcoming Dr Catteruccia. Link will be posted before the event.

The EPPIcenter at UCSF aims to advance the understanding of infectious diseases to reduce global morbidity and mortality. We believe that the greatest success in the fight against infectious diseases will come through a highly interdisciplinary, systems epidemiology approach, connecting traditionally siloed theoretical work, technology development, generation and collection of empiric data, and analysis using statistical and mathematical modeling