​Mechtilda Byamungu visits LSTM Vector Biology group

November 27th, 2015

From 15 November to 5 December 2015, Mechtilda Byamungu has been visiting researchers at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine as part of her involvement in WHO/TDR Project D and the associated BBSRC ZELS project (“Life on the edge: tackling Human African Trypanosomiasis on the edge of wilderness areas”). The main aim of her visit has been to receive training on molecular techniques for detecting trypanosome and mammalian species DNA in tsetse flies (see photo below for an action shot of Mechtilda working with Jess Lingley in the LSTM lab). The flies and blood meal samples were collected from the project site in western Serengeti. They have processed 268 blood meal samples, some of which have been sent for sequencing to determine the mammalian hosts that tsetse are feeding on. This training trip and laboratory work contribute to Mechtilda’s PhD project on “A study of the ecology and population dynamics of Glossina species in western Serengeti”.