Education
M.S. in Epidemiology, University of California, Davis (2006)
B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley (2001)
Curriculum Vitae
Current Projects
My dissertation research focuses on egg-laying behavior of Aedes aegypti, the principal mosquito vector of dengue viruses. Because no clinical cure or vaccine for dengue is currently available, control of virus transmission is limited to suppressing Ae. aegypti populations. Current dengue control programs often target for elimination the water-filled containers producing the most adult mosquitoes. Little is known, however, about how females select the containers in which they oviposit or how they respond when container availability is modified by control activities. I am testing the following questions for Ae. aegypti populations in Iquitos, Peru: 1) Do females actively select egg-laying sites based on container/water characteristics? 2) Are oviposition preferences positively associated with offspring fitness? 3) Do egg-laying strategies change (from concentrating eggs in one/a few containers to dispersing them widely) when preferred containers are removed from the environment? My research involves behavioral field experiments with natural populations of Ae. aegypti and the use of genetic fingerprinting to determine how females distribute their eggs under different conditions.
Wong, J., F. Tripet, J.L. Rasgon, G.C. Lanzaro and T.W. Scott. 2008.
SSCP analysis of scnDNA for genetic profiling of Aedes aegypti. J.
Amer. Soc. Trop. Med. Hyg. 79(4): 511-517.
Contact me:
jacwong@ucdavis.edu
