Докторант из Калифорнийского университета получил престижную награду за исследования устойчивости комаров к инсектицидам

UC Davis doctoral candidate Carla-Cristina “CC” de Melo Edwards of the lab of medical entomologist-geneticist Geoffrey Attardo, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the newly selected recipient of the 2026 Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (MUVE) Student Recognition Award in Medical Entomology for a PhD Student from the Entomological Society of America (ESA). The award recognizes graduate students for their accomplishments and potential in medical entomology. Edwards will be formally recognized at the MUVE business session during the ESA annual meeting, set Nov. 8-11 in Columbus, Ohio. In addition, Edwards was awarded a 2026–2027 Sagehen Research Grant for her project, “Evaluation of Raman Spectroscopy for Characterizing Insecticide-Associated Biochemical Variation in California Mosquito Populations Using UC Natural Reserve Sites.” The $2,000 award will support her field research. The project uses Raman spectroscopy to investigate biochemical variation associated with insecticide exposure and resistance in California mosquito populations. Edwards, projected to receive her doctorate in 2027, focuses her research on investigating the physiological mechanisms underlying pyrethroid resistance in Aedes aegypti (the yellow fever mosquito). Edwards was a McNair scholar at Baylor University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in biology, with a concentration in cell and molecular biology, in 2021. “I became interested in the mosquito field through my undergraduate research, studying the sensory and oviposition responses of Aedes aegypti in relation to the compound geosmin,” she said. She received her master’s degree in biology from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, where her thesis focused on medical entomology and vector biology. She investigated the effects of microplastics in relation to Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (the Asian tiger mosquito).