Tom Churcher

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Generous international scolarships for our MSc in Epidemiology here in London. In memory of Bob May. My career is 100% resulting from something similar to this *cough* *cough* 25 *cough*.....years ago! www.imperial.ac.uk/study/fees-a...

Evidence of much wider distribution of the potential West Nile virus vector, Culex modestus, in the UK - Parasites & Vectors Culex modestus is a primary vector of West Nile virus (WNV) in Europe, feeding on both avian and mammalian hosts. Since its rediscovery in the UK in Kent in 2010, its range has been reported throughou...

Hello UK, West Nile Virus carrying mosquito Culex modestus is coming to a ditch near you! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

The EMBL PhD programme is open until 13th October (entry ~Sep 2026):
www.embl.org/about/info/e...

We have three positions in microbial genomics at EMBL-EBI, including one in my group. Please do apply, or if you know anyone that would be interested pass on to them

Sorry, proper link. www.science.org/content/arti...

This is so sad. Burkinabe scientists have been at the forefront of the development of GM mosquitoes. They have been meticulous and patient, showing how this technology should be implemented. I fear this decision will cost a huge number of lives. www.malariaworld.org/news/after-h...

"we found that mosquitoes are drawn to those who avoid sunscreen, drink beer, and share their bed".......

First page of the article entitled "Efficacy of non-pyrethroid indoor residual spraying or intensive behaviour change communication in combination with long-lasting insecticidal nets for malaria control in west Africa: a pragmatic, cluster-randomised, controlled trial"

🚨 New publication!
Our RCT in 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso & 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire shows that adding either non-pyrethroid indoor residual spraying (IRS) or intensive behaviour change communication (BCC) to LLINs reduces #malaria burden.

In @lancetgh.bsky.social :
doi.org/10.1016/S221...

#GlobalHealth #VectorControl

Our pre-print "Simplifying mosquito sampling to estimate community biting exposure and malaria indoor vector control impact" is now available! doi.org/10.21203/rs..... 1/n #malaria #mosquitoes #vectors

Infectious Disease Modelling #IDModelling Join the conversation

Infectious Disease Modelling starter pack update! First pack is full so I created a second one. Pls keep on sending suggestions! (bio should contain experience relevant for this pack)
IDModelling pack 1: go.bsky.app/86Ao1a5
IDModelling pack 2 : go.bsky.app/2oBB7KX

Foreign aid cuts will cost lives, scientists warn Keir Starmer More than 130 academics have signed a letter telling the prime minister that cuts in funding could hinder the global fight against disease

Over 130 academics signed letter informing Prime Minister Keir Starmer that foreign aid cuts will cost lives & threatens the fight against disease
Thimoty Hallett, @thomaschurcher.bsky.social Caroline Trotter @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social @imperialsph.bsky.social
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...

Questionnaire on the use of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) data Please click the link to complete this form.

USAID cuts have halted Demographic and Health Surveys that are essential for tracking diseases like HIV and malaria. Huge loss that threatens global security and the efficient distribution of aid. Apparently the UN is trying to track scale of impact. Please respond. form.jotform.com/250913880478...

Our new preprint (ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...) describes✨AedesTraits✨ (zenodo.org/records/1514...) - A global database on temperature-trait responses in Aedes mosquitoes. #AedesTraits holds >31,000 rows of fully open data extracted from published literature (1930s to 2025)!

Modelling the effects of diurnal temperature variation on malaria infection dynamics in mosquitoes - Communications Biology Mechanistic modelling of the effects of diurnal temperature variation on Plasmodium falciparum sporogony indicates this variation is important in the laboratory, but further validation is required to ...

As we try to understand how climate change impacts malaria @isaacstopard.bsky.social looked how daily temperature fluctuations impact development in mosquitoes. Quite a bit it seems, but still unclear in wild mosies. Lovely data from Antoine Sanou but we need more! www.nature.com/articles/s42...

A tracker estimating deaths from freezing PEPFAR pepfar.impactcounter.com #HIVsky #TBsky #IDsky

March issue of The Lancet Microbe will be online next week, but you can read our editorial already.

Trump Administration Ends Global Health Research Program The Demographic and Health Surveys were the only sources of reliable information in many countries on metrics such as mortality, nutrition and education.

A very sad and counterproductive decision. Aid when you don’t know where diseases are is immensely inefficient. DHS is a vital long-term resource, both in counties with diseases like malaria, but also those finding new global threats. Everyone will be flying blind. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/h...

Target mosquitoes as they sugar feed shows considerable promise. We looked how these new tools could be used alongside existing malaria control and explored reasons why they might not be as good as early mosquito data suggested. Take_home - we just don't know what the mosi is doing!

Crucial WHO Health Emergency Response Faces Budget Cut Of 25% - Health Policy Watch “The immediate response here in WHO was to use our Emergency Response Framework, to realign the functions at the country office to deploy an incident manager

The real damage to emergency response is probably much larger. On top of the cut to WHO, the US deployed much of their funds for emergency response via the CDC and other US organizations. healthpolicy-watch.news/crucial-who-...

would be even better if I could have spelt allegory correctly!

Thankyou @eonore.bsky.social for putting our recent insecticide treated nets against malaria work into context! Even organised a building site backdrop as an alagory for this being work in progress! Excellent! Supported by @gatesfoundation.bsky.social @ivcc.bsky.social @unitaid.bsky.social

Interested in Lassa fever? Hear @drpdoohan.bsky.social summarise our Lassa review, recently published in @thelancet.bsky.social Global Health and part of our wider multi-pathogen review project: bit.ly/imperial-PERG

Description Please note that job descriptions are not exhaustive, and you may be asked to take on additional duties that align with the key responsibilities ment...

Interesed in the inteaction between global health, modelling and policy? Come join us at @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social as a technical analyst primarily working on malaria! www.imperial.ac.uk/jobs/search-...

Safety and Efficacy of Immunization with a Late-Liver-Stage Attenuated Malaria Parasite | NEJM Currently licensed and approved malaria subunit vaccines provide modest, short-lived protection against malaria. Immunization with live-attenuated Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites is an alte...

Super exiting paper from Olivia Lamera & Meta Roestenberg et al using GM malaria infected mosquitoes to vaccinate people against malaria. Early days and the use-case unclear but really interesting science. www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/...

It reports how experiments with wild mosquitoes combined with math models can predict trial results and provides an interface mint.dide.ic.ac.uk to allow decision-makers to choose the best vector control in their local setting given budgets. @mrc-outbreak.bsky.social @unitaid.bsky.social

The epidemiological benefit of pyrethroid–pyrrole insecticide treated nets against malaria: an individual-based malaria transmission dynamics modelling study The benefit of pyrethroid–pyrrole ITNs varies by setting but is generally the most cost-effective indoor vector control intervention in Africa. National Malaria Programmes can strategise deployment to...

Our paper estimates the use of these chlorfenapyr nets reduced overall malaria cases by 65-75%, substantially more than was observed in trials. These nets are likely to be the most cost-effective way of controlling malaria. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Insecticidal nets prevent more malaria than anything else. Trials in Benin and Tanzania show newer nets that kill more mosquitoes are better than those currently used, but they are unable to assess their overall impact as you cannot leave people without a net and unprotected.

Policy impact of the Imperial College COVID-19 Response Team: global perspective and United Kingdom case study - Health Research Policy and Systems Background Mathematical models and advanced analytics play an important role in policy decision making and mobilizing action. The Imperial College Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response Team (IC...

Hello Bsky! I work on real-time outbreak response and statistical methods/software to support this, and wanted to point to this recent work led by my amazing colleague @eonore, looking at the extent to which our team work on COVID-19 influenced policy globally: doi.org/10.1186/s129...

Call for Proposals: How can we address the gaps in the vector control toolbox for malaria? - IVCC Responding to the challenge of gaps in the malaria vector control tool box, IVCC has issued a call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to fund Proof of Concept (PoC) projects for new vector control tool...

We need more ways to kill mosquitoes, especially outside the home where most people are vulnerable. Got a crazy way of clobbering mossies? If so, this call is for you. www.ivcc.com/call-for-pro...

☕🍺@thomaschurcher.bsky.social