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| Peter Billingsley, shown here working in Tanzania, will speak at UC Davis on Friday, Dec. 3 in the Genome Center. (Courtesy Photo) |
DAVIS--Peter F. Billingsley, senior director of Entomology and Quality Systems at Sanaria Inc., Rockville, Md., will speak on "Development of a Mosquito-Derived, Attenuated Whole Parasite Vaccine against Malaria" from 12:10 to 1 p.m. , Friday, Dec. 3 in the UC Davis Genome Center Auditorium, 1005 Genome and Biological Sciences Facility, 451 Health Sciences Drive.
This is a joint entomology seminar: his talk is part of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology Seminar Series "Emerging Challenges in Microbiology and Immunology" and the UC Davis Department of Entomology fall seminars. Host is associate professor Shirley Luckhart, associate professor of medical microbiology and immunology.
Sanaria is a biotechnology company dedicated to the production of a vaccine protective against malaria caused by the pathogen Plasmodium falciparum.
Sanaria's mission statement: "Sanaria's primary goal is to develop and commercialize a metabolically active, non-replicating (=attenuated or weakened) malaria sporozoite vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum, the malaria parasite responsible for more than 95% of malaria associated severe illness and death world-wide and the malaria parasite for which there is the most significant drug resistance."
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| Peter Billingsley |
Billingsley has more than 20 years experience in medical entomology and malaria transmission research. He directed research teams at Imperial College, London, and the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, examining diverse aspects of insect biology related to disease transmission, especially midgut and salivary gland biology, and more recently the molecular physiology of aging in mosquitoes.
He has served on the editorial boards of major parasitology and entomology journals, the College of Experts for the Medical Research Council (UK) and advisory boards for mosquito control trails in Africa. He combines fundamental laboratory work with considerable experience in the field.
Billingsley earned his doctorate at Queen’s University in Canada and did postdoctoral research at the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel. In 1988, he accepted a prestigious Royal Society University Research Fellowship at Imperial College, London.
In 1995 Billingsley became senior lecturer and head of zoology in the School of Biological Sciences at Aberdeen University.
Billingsley has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles in international journals. Since 2006, he has devoted his broad expertise to the unique challenges of developing and deploying a live attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite vaccine at Sanaria Inc.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894
