Akilah Stewart

Credentials: Indiana University

Position title: Postdoctoral Fellow

Email: akilstew@iu.edu

I have broad research interests in global health, particularly pathogens that are relevant to public health. My PhD involved the use of MiSeq next-gen 16s rRNA gene and 18s rRNA gene sequencing for the detection of bacterial and protozoan communities of human health importance in domestic water in the southern Caribbean. In recent years, I have also begun to study Aedes and Culex mosquitoes, which pose significant challenges as vectors of disease and nuisance biters. In 2018, I was fortunate to become involved in research which seeks to address this problem through Prof. Molly Duman-Scheel, Prof. Emeritus Dave Severson and others who have been developing yeast-based interfering RNA pesticides for mosquito control. Based in Trinidad, we conducted tropical validation of this research at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus. Our work has ranged from yeast cultivation to lab and field trials. We have also engaged local communities and other stakeholders on this novel mosquito control approach. Given the continued practice and growing interest in rainwater harvesting, the development of this bio-pesticide is highly relevant. In July 2022, I joined the Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend working on the project Yeast interfering RNA Pesticide-based Attractive Targeted Sugar Baits for Biorational Mosquito Control in Prof Duman-Scheel’s lab. I hope to share the training I gain in mosquito genetics, molecular biology and related fields in Trinidad and Tobago.