We investigate how mosquito innate immunity and host metabolic conditions regulate vector competence for arboviruses and malaria parasites — paving the way for novel transmission-blocking strategies.
Blood from diet-induced obese and diabetic mice remodels Aedes aegypti gut metabolism and reduces Zika virus infections, establishing a novel immunometabolic axis in arbovirus transmission.
Double peroxidase and histone acetyltransferase AgTip60 maintain immune memory in Anopheles — the first mechanistic description of trained immunity in vectors.
Comprehensive analyses tracing the major components of innate immunity across animal evolution, connecting mammalian trained immunity to invertebrate systems.
Epigenetic regulators of trained immunity in Anopheles mosquitoes primed by Plasmodium infection.
How obesity and diabetes in vertebrate hosts alter mosquito biology and arbovirus susceptibility.
Tracing immune system components across animals, connecting vertebrate and invertebrate paradigms.
PolyP storage, phosphate sensing, and DAPI-based in situ visualization across eukaryotes.
Insect midgut cell biology, nutrient processing and oxidant-gut relationships relevant to vector biology.
Associate Professor at IBCCF/UFRJ. Ph.D. in Biological Sciences — Biophysics (UFRJ, 2012). Intramural Fellow at NIH/NIAID, postdoctoral researcher at Johns Hopkins, and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at CNRS (Paris). Coordinator of the Vector Insects Platform, Vice-Director of the Advanced Microscopy Unit at CENABIO.
Menezes, Walter-Nuno et al. — diet-induced obese and diabetic host blood remodels mosquito gut metabolism and significantly reduces Zika virus infection.
Three-year programme supporting our work on host-immunometabolism and arbovirus vector competence.
Highly competitive private-philanthropy grant funding bold, basic-science questions on vector-borne disease biology.
Funded positions across all research lines. We especially welcome candidates from under-represented backgrounds.
We welcome applications from motivated students and postdocs interested in vector biology, immunology and immunometabolism. Funded positions available.