Scott Lab

Thomas W. Scott, Ph.D.
Director and Professor of Entomology
Department of Entomology
49 Briggs Hall
UC Davis
530-752-0565
twscott@ucdavis.edu

 

 

On a worldwide basis, insect transmitted diseases take an enormous toll in human mortality, morbidity and loss of productivity, and diminishment of the food supply because of their direct or indirect effects on humans and domestic animals. Diseases such as dengue, malaria, yellow fever, Rift Valley fever, Japanese encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and the equine encephalitides continue to cause unacceptably high rates of illness and death.

The objective of the activities in my lab is to foster collaboration among faculty, post-docs, staff, and students in order to advance the detailed understanding of insect-borne disease (principally dengue, West Nile fever, and malaria) and their mosquito vectors and to use that knowledge to prevent disease within the state, nationally, and internationally. To that end, I advocate a multidisciplinary approach for addressing important questions regarding the ecology, evolution, epidemiology, and disease risk assessment of arthropod-borne viral diseases based on a detailed understanding of vectors, viruses, and vertebrate hosts.

It is doubtful that vector-borne diseases will be eliminated in the near future. Instead, they will increase as important sources of human morbidity and mortality as national and international travel becomes faster and cheaper, commerce proliferates, and population centers expand into new areas that support arbovirus transmission. Well-designed and innovative strategies for disease control will be based on the application of new scientific knowledge, availability of sustainable resources, and continued political support. Programs with the ability to integrate information from diverse but relevant disciplines will lead the way in recognizing and preventing disease.