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Dr Louisa Messenger

BA MSc PhD

Assistant Professor

Room
412

LSHTM
Keppel Street
London
WC1E 7HT
United Kingdom

Louisa is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with more than 14 years of experience, specialising primarily in molecular entomology and parasitology of different vector-borne diseases across multiple continents. Her research interests have concentrated on two areas: the evaluation and implementation of novel, vector control interventions and the application of basic science techniques to improve disease surveillance and management strategies. She currently supports insecticide resistance monitoring activities of two randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating next-generation long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) for control of malaria transmitted by pyrethroid-resistant vectors in Tanzania (NCT03554616) and Benin (NCT03931473). Louisa previously held an American Society for Microbiology Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA (2016-2019), a L'Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science UK and Ireland Fellowship (2016) and was a project manager of a USAID-sponsored RCT in Muheza, Tanzania (NCT02533336; 2015-2016). Louisa has a PhD (2015) and MSc (2009, Distinction) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a BA (2008) from the University of Cambridge.

Affiliations

Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases
Department of Disease Control

Centres

Malaria Centre

Teaching

Louisa teaches across a number of courses and programmes at LSHTM. She lectures, leads practical sessions and tutors for 3166 Vector Biology and Vector-Parasite Interactions. She also leads practical sessions for 3125 Introduction to Disease Agents and their Control, 3122 Parasitology and Entomology and 3176 Integrated Vector Management; and tutors for 3195 Malaria: from Science to Policy and for the MSc course Control of Infectious Diseases. Louisa is a member of the examination boards for the MSc Medical Entomology for Disease Control, MSc Medical Parasitology and MSc Control of Infectious Diseases courses. Louisa supervises MSc student projects each summer and is currently supervising two PhD students working on:

- Efficacy and durability (insecticidal and physical) of next-generation insecticide-treated bed nets against pyrethroid-resistant malaria vectors.

- Investigating the impact of insecticide resistance on malaria transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.

Research

Louisa's research outputs can be viewed on ResearchGate

Research Area
Clinical trials
Complex interventions
Conflict
Diagnostics
Insects
Maternal health
Parasites
Public health
Surveillance
Capacity strengthening
Disease control
Environmental Health
Evaluation
Evidence use
Global Health
Impact evaluation
Natural disasters
Outbreaks
Implementation research
Protozoa
Randomised controlled trials
Vector control
Discipline
Genomics
Molecular epidemiology
Genetics
Molecular biology
Operational research
Parasitology
Vector biology
Entomology
Disease and Health Conditions
Malaria
Chagas Disease
Emerging Infectious Disease
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)
Zoonotic disease
Country
Benin
Bolivia
Cote d'Ivoire
Ethiopia
United Kingdom
Guinea
Peru
Tanzania
United States of America
Region
Latin America & Caribbean (developing only)
Latin America & Caribbean (all income levels)
North America
OECD members
Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only)
Sub-Saharan Africa (all income levels)
World

Selected Publications

Overabundance of Asaia and Serratia Bacteria Is Associated with Deltamethrin Insecticide Susceptibility in Anopheles coluzzii from Agboville, Côte d'Ivoire.
Pelloquin B; Kristan M; Edi C; Meiwald A; Clark E; Jeffries CL; Walker T; Dada N; Messenger LA
2021
Microbiol Spectr
Repeat-Driven Generation of Antigenic Diversity in a Major Human Pathogen, Trypanosoma cruzi.
Talavera-López C; Messenger LA; Lewis MD; Yeo M; Reis-Cunha JL; Matos GM; Bartholomeu DC; Calzada JE; Saldaña A; Ramírez JD
2021
Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
Chagas Disease in the United States: a Public Health Approach.
Bern C; Messenger LA; Whitman JD; Maguire JH
2019
Clinical Microbiology Reviews
The relationship between insecticide resistance, mosquito age and malaria prevalence in Anopheles gambiae s.l. from Guinea.
Collins E; Vaselli NM; Sylla M; Beavogui AH; Orsborne J; Lawrence G; Wiegand RE; Irish SR; Walker T; Messenger LA
2019
Scientific Reports
Characterizing the molecular and metabolic mechanisms of insecticide resistance in Anopheles gambiae in Faranah, Guinea.
Stica C; Jeffries CL; Irish SR; Barry Y; Camara D; Yansane I; Kristan M; Walker T; Messenger LA
2019
Malaria journal
Toward Improving Early Diagnosis of Congenital Chagas Disease in an Endemic Setting.
Messenger LA; Gilman RH; Verastegui M; Galdos-Cardenas G; Sanchez G; Valencia E; Sanchez L; Malaga E; Rendell VR; Jois M
2017
Clinical infectious diseases
Importation of Hybrid Human-Associated Trypanosoma cruzi Strains of Southern South American Origin, Colombia.
Messenger LA; Ramirez JD; Llewellyn MS; Guhl F; Miles MA
2016
Emerging infectious diseases
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