NIAID supports a wide range of vector-related research, including activities to better understand the process of transmission of pathogens via arthropod (insects and ticks) vectors. As part of this effort, NIAID brings together a multidisciplinary group of investigators from the fields of vector biology, parasite immunology, and vertebrate host immunology to dissect the complex process of pathogen transmission at the intersection of the human host, the arthropod vector, and the pathogen.
Areas of interest include:
- How vector-derived factors in saliva impact the transmission of vector-borne pathogens to humans (effect on the pathogen and pathogenesis and on the human immune system, especially immune cells in the skin)
- Effect of human (vertebrate) immune factors ingested with the blood meal on the pathogen and on mosquito biology (survival/fertility)
- How pathogens and vectors interact, especially the effect of vector immune response on the pathogen, its transmission, and its pathogenesis in the vertebrate host
- How basic research in this area can be translated to prevent disease transmission (for example, through vaccines)
Vector-Host Interactions Meeting Summaries
- Arthropod Vector: Controller of Disease Transmission, Volume 1, 2017
- Arthropod Vector: Controller of Disease Transmission, Volume 2, 2017
- Is arthropod saliva the achilles' heel of vector-borne diseases? 2013
- Role of Immune Cell Subsets in the Establishment of Vector-Borne Infections, 2012
- Role of Immune Cell Subsets in the Establishment of Vector-Borne Infections, 2012
- Immunologic Consequences of Arthropod Vector-Derived Salivary Factors, 2011