Story
Mosquitoes have fascinated me for many years, the health impact that such a small insect can have on communities is incredible and I wanted to play a role in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases. During my biology studies at Wageningen University & Research, I developed methods for colour marking of mosquitoes to facilitate experiments with different malaria mosquito species and I went to Suriname, to study the effect of biological control agents against Aedes mosquitoes.
Now I work as a medical entomologist for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and I am a guest researcher at the OHE team. We have developed a rapid entomological assessment, which I perform in different MSF projects around the world. The objective is to identify the main malaria vectors and their behaviour to develop the best vector control interventions for a specific project. Since most of the MSF project are located in emergency contexts, not much is known about the local malaria vectors. A story of one of my field trips to a refugee camp in Ethiopia can be found here.
When I am not spending time with mosquitoes, I love to go walking and travel to discover new areas and cultures.
Jeanine Loonen, MSc