Dr Raphael N'Guessan is an internationally recognised medical entomologist with over 30 years of experience in malaria vector control research. He is an Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), a member of its Malaria Centre, and Founder and Director of the Vector Control Product Evaluation Centre (VCPEC-IPR) in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire.
He initialy developed as civil enginieer in road construction before switching career. He began entomology in 1993 at the Institut Pierre Richet, Bouake Côte d'Ivoire. before joining LSHTM in 2002. In 2004 he engaged with a local partner institution in Benin, "Centre de Recherche Entomologique de Cotonou (CREC)", where he established a laboratory dedicated to innovative vector control tools and scientific capacity building. He obtained an MSc in control of infectious from LSHTM in 2006 and a PhD in Medical Entomology from Wageningen University & Research in 2009.
His pioneering research in southern Benin identified a form of pyrethroid resistance that posed a major threat to the effectiveness of insecticide-treated nets across Africa. In response, he investigated novel insecticidal active ingredients, particularly chlorfenapyr, laying the scientific foundations for a new generation of malaria vector control tools. This work contributed to the development of Interceptor G2, a dual-active ingredient mosquito net combining chlorfenapyr and alpha-cypermethrin, developed and evaluated by his research team in Benin in 2016. Interceptor G2 subsequently became an important innovation in malaria prevention, offering improved protection against insecticide-resistant mosquito populations.
More recently, he has collaborated with manufacturers, particularly VKA Polymers (India), to accelerate the development and market introduction of innovative mosquito nets. This includes PRONet Duo, a chlorfenapyr-bifenthrin net that demonstrated superior mosquito mortality and blood-feeding prevention compared with Interceptor G2 in experimental hut trials in Côte d'Ivoire and Tanzania, and achieved WHO prequalification in 2025.
He also contributed to a landmark clinical trial published in NEJM Evidence (2026), demonstrating the superior protection of PBO-pyrethroid and chlorfenapyr-pyrethroid nets against malaria in children compared with conventional nets in highly resistant areas of Côte d'Ivoire.
In 2016, he established the Vector Control Product Evaluation Centre (VCPEC-IPR) in Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, inaugurated in 2019 and certified compliant with the OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practice in 2023. The Centre aims to generate high-quality scientific evidence on the efficacy of innovative vector control products, particularly against insecticide-resistant malaria vectors. Through rigorous laboratory and field evaluations, VCPEC-IPR supports product development, regulatory decision-making, and WHO prequalification, while strengthening African research capacity and accelerating access to effective malaria prevention technologies. His current research integrates experimental entomology, epidemiological trials, and community-level evaluations to translate scientific innovation into effective malaria prevention strategies and measurable public health impact.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr N'Guessan provides expert scientific advice to national malaria control programmes in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin on evidence-based vector control strategies, particularly in settings affected by insecticide resistance. He has also served on the World Health Organization Pesticide Evaluation Scheme (WHOPES) working group and on the WHO Evidence Review Group.
Affiliations
Centres
Teaching
Since 2012 he has taught on the Malaria module of the LSHTM MSc programmes, and since 2013 he has provided tutorial support on vector control to LSHTM Distance Learning MSc students (Infectious Disease Control). Every year since 2006 he has hosted LSHTM MSc students in Benin for their summer research project, which he supervises and marks.
In West Africa he gives lectures and seminars on malaria transmission and the relative importance of vector control tools for MSc students of the Universities of Abomey-Calavi and Montpellier (since 2007), on insectary practice and insecticide bioassays for West African students of medical entomology in Cotonou (since 2007), and on insecticide resistance in malaria vectors in Benin and Côte d'Ivoire (since 2009).
Research
- Insecticide resistance in Anopheles malaria vectors, from bioassays to kdr mutations and detoxifying enzymes, and its impact on malaria control.
- Evaluation of new vector control products to WHO standards (phase I and II), including long-lasting nets with chlorfenapyr, piperonyl butoxide or pyriproxyfen, and indoor residual spraying.
- Experimental hut trials and Good Laboratory Practice studies.
- Housing interventions and new tools, including EaveTubes, window screening, the lethal house lure and attractive targeted sugar baits.
- Community and clinical trials of new tools in areas of pyrethroid resistance.
