Скачать или смотреть Research Profile: Ecohealth Intervention, Chagas Disease

Presenters: Donna Rizzo, Lori Stevens, and Patricia Dorn

Topic: An estimated 8 million people are infected with Chagas disease in the Americas, leading to the deaths of approximately 13,000 people a year. Gund Institute Fellow and Professor in the School of Engineering at UVM, Donna Rizzo, has teamed up with Lori Stevens, Patricia Dorn, Carlota Monroy, and many others to find new ways to prevent Chagas disease. Their current focus is on developing an ecohealth intervention to reduce the spread and number of the parasite vector. Interventions include improving rural homes to make them inhospitable to the vector, outreach, and education. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is tracking the impact of the interventions, doing further research on the genomics, and developing new geospatial analyses and complex systems models to help us understand human-vector interactions and parasite transmission. Donna’s role in modeling for the project is using the data collected by the vast interdisciplinary theme to explore the interplay between ecological and landscape variables, insect and parasite genomics, vector blood meal source information, and socioeconomic variables.

The Gund Institute is a hub for transdisciplinary scholarship, based at the University of Vermont and comprising diverse faculty, students, and collaborators worldwide. Together we conduct research at the interface of ecological, social, and economic systems, develop creative, practical solutions to local and global environmental challenges, and provide future leaders with the tools and understanding necessary to navigate the transition to a sustainable society.

To learn more visit: http://www.uvm.edu/~gundiee/