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Anna Drexler |
DAVIS--Anna Drexler, a UC Davis doctoral student in entomology who recently co-authored a scientific paper on malaria parasites that drew international attention, has been awarded a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research fellowship aimed to promote diversity in health-related research.
Drexler studies with major professor and noted malaria researcher Shirley Luckhart of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Medicine.
Drexler, who joined the Luckhart lab in January 2008, focuses her research on the roles of the human blood-derived insulin-like growth factor-1 and the role of insulin signaling in the regulation of malaria parasite transmission by Anopheles mosquitoes.
The UC Davis student is a co-first author of a paper on malaria parasites published July 15, 2010 in the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens (PLOS). Titled “Activation of Akt Signaling Reduces the Prevalence and Intensity of Malaria Parasite Infection and Lifespan in Anopheles stephensi Mosquitoes,” the work is a collaborative effort between UC Davis and the University of Arizona. Co-authors include two UC Davis faculty: Luckhart and Ed Lewis, who has a joint appointment with the Department of Nematology and the Department of Entomology.
The paper, with more than 4200 article views in July alone, has drawn extensive news coverage. ABC and BBC spotlighted the work. In a July 17 news article headlined “Malaria-Proof Mosquito Created,” science writer Eric Bland of ABC News wrote that scientists created “a malaria-proof" mosquito, that scientists “engineered a genetic ‘on switch' that permanently activates a malaria-destroying response.”
“If these mosquitoes,” Bland wrote, “are successfully introduced into the wild, they could prevent millions of people from becoming infected with life-threatening Plasmodium -- the parasite that causes malaria.”
BBC science reporter Victoria Gill, in a July 16th article headlined “Malaria-Proof Mosquito Engineered,” wrote that scientists in the United States “have succeeded in genetically engineering a malaria-resistant mosquito.”
Drexler, who grew up in Washington, D.C., received her bachelor’s degree in integrative biology, with an emphasis on animal biology, from UC Berkeley in 1999. She earned her master’s degree in physiology and behavior from San Francisco State University in 2006 and then began her doctoral studies at the University of Washington before transferring to the Luckhart lab.
The competitive NIH fellowships are available to provide funds to qualified students for stipends, research supplies, and research-related travel under an existing parent research grant.
The applications are evaluated on multiple criteria, including career goals, prior research training, research potential and relevant experience, and evidence of educational achievement.
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--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
