Greg Lanzaro hunts for malaria mosquitoes in Mali.

DAVIS — Some 15 speakers, mostly scientists engaged in vector biology and genetics research, will discuss their work at the sixth annual observance of World Malaria Day on the UC Davis campus.

The event, set from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 25 in Room 1041 of the Gladys Valley Hall, School of Veterinary Medicine, will target mosquitoes that transmit malaria, dengue and West Nile virus.

All interested persons are invited to attend the event. There is no admission charge.

Professor Gregory Lanzaro, who launched the UC Davis Malaria Day in 2007 while with the UC Mosquito Research Program at UC Davis, will give the introduction and lead off the all-day seminar at 9:15 a.m. with "Current Problems and Future Prospects for Controlling Malaria in Africa." Lanzaro is a professor with the Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology (PMI) School of Veterinary Medicine.

Among the other talks: a personal account by PMI postdoctoral scholar Yoosook Lee on "Why Malaria Control is Difficult in Africa"; and an update on "Non-Traditional Distribution Channels for Promoting Malaria Prevention and Treatment" by Christopher Dunford of Freedom from Hunger, Davis.

Mosquitoes targeted include Anopheles, which transmits malaria; Culex, West Nile virus, and Aedes aegypti, dengue.

The event is being held in recognition of World Malaria Day and in support of the Roll Back Malaria program in promoting education and research in the fight against malaria, said spokesperson Michelle Sanford, a postdoctoral scholar in the Vector Genetics Lab. "Students and researchers at UC Davis will come together to discuss their research efforts."

The World Malaria Day observance will begin with coffee served from 9 to 9:15 a.m. Lanzaro's presentation will follow.

Also on the agenda:

• 9:52: Kong Wai Cheung of the Shirley Luckhart lab, UC Davis School of Medicine's Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, "A New Method to Generate Transiently Transformed Vector Mosquitoes for Lab-Based Studies."
• 10:08: Jose Pietri, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, "Induction of Insulin-like Peptides in the Anopheles stephensi Midgut: An Antiparasite Response or Immunosuppression?"
• 10:41: Bo Wang, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, "p38 MAPK Signaling in Anopheles stephensi: a Mechanism for Tolerance or Resistance during Parasite Infection?"
• 10:57: Kelly Liebman, with medical entomologist Tom Scott's Department of Entomology lab, "Heterogeneous Feeding Patterns of Aedes aegypti (transmits dengue) in Households in Iquitos, Peru."
• 11:13: Michelle Sanford, PMI, "Unraveling the Relationship between Karyotypes, Genes and Environment in Anopheles gambiae."
• 11:29: Clare Marsden, PMI, "Gene flow and Genetic Control in the Malaria Vector Anopheles gambiae s.s."
• 11:45: Steven Ramsay, Animal Biology, UC Davis, "The Effect of Water Quality on Larval Distribution of the Anopheles gambiae Complex from Cameroon and Mali."
• 1:30: Christopher Dunford, affiliated with Freedom from Hunger, Davis, "Non-Traditional Distribution Channels for Promoting Malaria Prevention and Treatment."
• 2:16: Yoosook Lee, PMI, "Why Malaria Control Is Difficult in Africa," a personal account
• 2:51: Elizabeth Glennon, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, "The Role of Abscisic Acid in the Mosquito Immune Response to Malaria Parasite Infection."
• 3:07: Mary Danforth, UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases, "Climate and Urbanization: Explaining Long Term Trends in Culex tarsalis Abundance."
• 3:23: Brittany Nelms, affiliated with Department of Entomology, Center for Vectorborne Diseases and the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District, "Overwintering Biology of Culex Mosquitoes in the Sacramento Valley of California and their Potential Role as Overwintering Reservoirs of West Nile Virus."
• 3:38: Jenny Carlson, Department of Entomology, "Culicine Vectorial Capacity and its Role in Avian Malaria Transmission in Western United States."

Theme of this year's World Malaria Day is "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." According to the World Malaria Report 2011, more than 216 million cases of malaria and an estimated 655 000 deaths occurred worldwide in 2010. Due to investments in malaria control, malaria mortality rates have dropped by more than 25 percent globally since 2000. Statistics show that malaria deaths in Africa have been cut by one-third within the last decade, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

More than half of the world's population is at risk for malaria, the mosquito-borne disease caused by Plasmodium parasites. The malaria mosquito, Anopheles, bites mainly at night. Children in Africa are the most susceptible to malaria; a child dies every minute of the disease, which accounts for approximately 22 percent of all childhood deaths, according to WHO.

The UC Davis event is sponsored by the School of Veterinary Medicine and a National Institutes of Health Training Grant in Vector Biology at UC Davis. For more information, email Michelle Sanford.