Early Career Researcher visits The Pirbright Institute

"I have been in UK for a short training inside the Project: "Cracking sand fly dispersal with eggs: adaptation of an immunomarking technique for use with Phlebotomine sandflies". This project is supervised by researchers of the UK and Brazil as part of Gnatwork Pump Prime Funding. The training was successful and we collected the first data of marking with proteins based on food in sandflies. The training began at Lancaster University where Dr Rod Dillon and I marked the sandflies (Lu. longipalpis-Jacobina) with milk and egg white. After this initial step, the frozen samples were brought to the Pirbright Institute and I worked with Dr Chris Sanders. We tested the samples using an ELISA technique. Our time was short but very useful and promising, now there is no doubt that sandflies can be marked and detected which may open many possibilities to mapping these insects in the natural environment. For me, it is an honour working with professionals of such excellence and enthusiasm, mainly because I´m a early career postdoc researcher. I was in the UK two years ago during my PhD for a few months and to return to develop other science questions is gratifying, I felt welcomed in UK and hope we can work in collaboration for many years to develop new knowledge about vectors". Dr Raquel Santos Souza